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Canadian  Inatituta  for  Hiatorical  Microraproductiona  /  Inatitut  Canadian  da  microraproductiona  hiatoriquaa 


994 


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/ 


HAMLET,  AN  IDEAL  PRINCE 

AND  OTHER  ESSAYS  IN 

SHAKESPEAREAN 
INTERPRETATION 

HanUet:  Merchant  of  Venice;  OtkeUo;  King  Lear 


BY 

^^^^T^™^W.  CRAWFORD. 

M.A.  (ToBONTo).  Ph.D.  (Cobnbix). 

IJSiliorof^ W  ."^  "■  tTNIVMSiTT  or  MANITOBA. 
AUTHOBOF     TBI  PHILOSOPHY  OF  F.  H.  MCOBI." 


BOSTON:  RICHARD  G.  BADGER 

TORONTO:  THE  COPP  CLARK  CO..  UMITED 


/^'^  >  V- 


COPTBIGBT.  1916,  BT  RiCHABD  G.  BaDOKB 

AU  Righti  ReMTved 


Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 
The  Gorham  Fkess,  Borton.  U.  S,  A. 


0  30120 


0 


TO  THB  UEMORT  OF 
THE  LATE 

PROFESSOR  HIRAM  CORSON.  M.A..  LL.D..  Litt.IX 

OP  CORNELL  UmVERSITT, 

WHO  nsar  taught  me  that  thebb  abb 

MORE  things  in  — 8HAKB8PBARB 
THAN  ARE  DREAMT  OP  IN  OUB  PHILOSOEHT 


PREFACE 

THE  three  hundredth  year  of  Shakespeare's  death 
seems  a„  appropriate  time  to  offer  to  the  public 
new  interpretations  of  some  of  the  irreat  dram 

P  "t  thr^'*".*    ^''"'t-     .^'^^   earnest    stSfo^X 

weathrf     ';*•""  ^'  .^^""  "'^^"^  e-h-"«ted  the 
wealth  of  meaning  contained   in  these  master-pieces 
The  present  Shakespeare  revival  not  only  discWsTn 

of  hi,  t  mlraL  ^f       ^      °'  ""'  P'"™t  knowledge 
a,  woVkr;;',i?ettlT„lrra«*tf  ^jf  ti'! 

Ben  .rjtl^^^^^^^^  ro.  i 

misty  or  obsnirr   !,.,»  I     •  , '     Shakespeare  is  not 

y        Obscure,  but  he  IS  profound,  and  it  will  take 

5 


•  Preface 

many  more  generations  of  scholars  to  exhaust  his  irreat 
wealth  of  meaning. 

Like  all  students  of  any  literature  I  am  indebted  to 
the  many  scholars  and  critics  who  have  worked  in  the 
held  before  me,  but  like  every  student  of  Shakespeare 
1  am  under  a  special  obligation  to  Dr.  Furness's  Vario- 
rum editions  of  the  plays.  These  scholarly  editions 
contain  most  of  the  materials  necessary  for  a  careful 
study  of  both  the  text  and  the  criticism  of  the 
p  ays.  But  for  the  attitude  I  have  taken  toward  the 
plays  as  works  of  dramatic  art  and  interpretations  of 
human  life  I  am  indebted  more  than  to  any  other  to  my 
former  teacher,  the  late  Professor  Hiram  Corson  of 
Cornell  University. 

r  J'j®.^^®'^  °^  Hartdet  herein  presented  was  first  pub- 
Vo,!r  ^"  *"^  Unitfersiti/  Magazine  (Montreal),  April, 
191«'  »mt  the  essay  has  been  entirely  re-written  and 
expa,:^^  d  beyond  what  was  possible  within  the  narrow 
hmits  of  a  magazine  article.  The  other  essays  have 
not  previously  been  published,  though  their  substance 
has  been  given  to  several  generations  of  students  in  my 
classes.  "^ 

All  quotations  of  Shakespeare's  texts  occurring  in  the 
essays  are  taken  from  Furness's  Variorum  editions, 
though  modern  spellings  have  been  adopted. 

,T  .        ..        .  ,  A.  W.  Crawford. 

University  of  Manitoba, 

June,  1916. 


CONTENTS 

Chapteb  I. 

lNTRODucTOBT-TheInten,reUtion  of  Shakespeare '^l 

Chapter  II. 
Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 

21 

Chapteb  III. 

TheMerchantofVenice.orShakespea«'aChristianandJew     .     .     m 

Chapteb  IV. 
OtheUo:  The  Tragedy  of  a  Moor  in  Venice    ...  '       ^. 

Chapteb  V. 

King  Lear;  A  Tragedy  of  Despotism  . 

847 

NOTES. 

Note  A.  The  Staging  of  the  First  Scene  of  ffamfe*     .  ^, 

NoteB.  HoraUo.  and  his  Part  in  the  Play                            •     •  «91 

Note  C.  Hamlet.  III.  iv.  122-130  

Noted.  Othello's  Color,  and  its  Dramatic  Significance  .'     .'     ."  Z 

Index  .     .     .     , 

• 303 


ill 


INTRODUCTORY 

THE  INTEBPEETATION  OF  8HAKESPEAEE 


HAMLET,  AN  IDEAL  PRINCE 

CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTORY 

THE    INTEBPEBTATION     OF     SHAKESPEARE 

X 

E^^?   *«e   since   Shakespeare   has   huH   if.     -^ 

chief  Zr'Zhtic  oi  fl,"""    ■""■T«t.tio„,.       The 

"Peare  i,  thrt"t'tUUti„7tr,U'".tV' ^^^^ 
dramas  and  as  Fli^oJ«.+i,        **     ,       .    **  ""  P^*ys  as 
still.  h.^eTer"so^'':^,^''Jlt^"''''''"-     There\re 
"either  of  thwe  ?hingr  *'  P"""'  ''"y  "^o  do 

twJtpe!''':;  d™L7"  *^'"'?  """y'  »'  «•'  d™-"* 

these  tritoryhrtentrn^f"?-     '"  "»  «"'  of 

and  i„  the  othL  the^ha"ate£Tave°if,:'!?*J"^^^^ 
est  importance  anH  th^  cf««    i.      l     ^^^"'ned  the  /jreat- 

the  cL^^z't  twlrtar  ""Ae  •'m-  'r 

Plavs  were  constriinfo^  f  "'^nseives.  ihe  Miracle 
the  Vpfe  the  Kbk'  t^rie^  Z  T"''  "V^"'"'"" 
therefore,  all-importan       The  Mor!mv"pL™'"'  7.^' 

;Xttwird'"t:j!rii''™^^^^^^^^ 

set  before  the  PeopTStp^e  ^r^efe-SuHi*" 


u 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


Both  types  of  plays  necessarily  con- 
character   and   plot,   but   in    the   one 
emphasized,    and    in    the    other    the 


tues  and  vices, 
sisted  of  both 
the  story  was 
characters. 

This  distinction  may  be  observed  throughout  the  en- 
tire history  of  the  drama.  Some  of  the  dramatist, 
make  everything  of  the  story,  while  other.^  n.aKor  ! 
thing  of  the  characters.  Marlowe,  the  first  of  the  great 
dramatists,  places  the  dramatic  emphasis  upon  the 
story  which  he  takes  either  from  history  or  from  some 
well-known  legend,  though  he  does  not  by  any  means 
negect  the  elucidation   of  his  characters^    Ben    lon- 

usuallv^nTv  °"  *•'  '''^^'  ^""^^'  ^''  «^^"^  narratives, 
usually  of  his  own  invention,  upon  which  he  suspends  his 
characters.  His  p  ays  are  full  of  episodes  which  do  not 
help  forward  the  plot,  but  are  intended  only  as  exhibi- 
ofT«  J  *'^'-  Shakespeare,  in  the  construction 
of  his  plays,  and  under  the  inspiration  of  his  own 

his  narratives  from  the  historians,  or  from  the  earlier 
dramatists  and  novelists.  He  seldom  invented  his  own 
stories,  as  did  Jonson,  but  utilized  the  familiar  stories, 
and  breathed  into  them  a  new  life  and  depth  of  mean- 
ing  that  made  them  the  vehicles  of  his  own  conceptions 
ot  life  and  conduct. 

In  the  hand  of  Shakespeare,  then,  the  drama  is 
primarily  a  fictitious  narrative,  and  belongs  to  the 
literature  of  stories.  It  does  not  follow,  however,  that 
he  nas  in  any  way  neglected  his  characters.  He  is  in- 
deed the  one  supreme  dramatist  who  develops  both  char- 
acter and  story,  but  who  develops  his  characters  always 
entirely  within  his  narratives.  Unlike  Jonson,  who  ap- 
parently first  conceived  his  characters  and  then  invented 
his  stories  to  suit  them,  Shakespeare  seems  first  to  have 


U! 


Interpretation  of  Shaketpeare 


18 


."t^ldX^s'rrit::;'"'  ™~  -"' 


per,on    whom  w"  col?„  t  ""  '^'•«'"»  ««  real 

e.it.  .„d  .he"  z::z''^:z^^iz "'  r  f'" 

spent  much  enerxrv  .,«««  «   '"rgetting  tins,  critics  have 
studies  in  ,tiu  Jift      r"  '^™   of  character  pose,,  or 

we  know  the  oh^^ctetl  ;  by 'haUht'drr'T" 
have  no  existence  outside  the     ram.,   ^j    '   "  '""f' 

^?i?!::s»-L~!^^^^^^^^^^^ 

others  have  done,  certain  eLe„t,'  of  th.    T"^'  "' 
kj;.n«   no  si«„i«ca„ce  for  .ruld^ltiSdinr-r  hiJ 

tha^„tX''lrer^'?hlirsttrr''"'" 

d^  no»o  very  few  of  hi-    7'^    I  *  *^**  ^^'  invented 
earlier  literSureT  i:2rte    Z^  ^  **'^'°  '^°- 

was  the  first  req'ulsfte'tr  f  ^^^^^^^ 
those  he  borroweH  h*.  frJ^    *^"*™a-     In  the  case  of 
make  it  sSveZuer  th^     •  *^^  ^^^^^  *^^  «t°rj  to 

stood  the  tU  reLtoisTr/'l^r"'''''.  ^  '^"- 
.nd  stamped  ^^'"^7 ::.t,%tT^^^^t 


14 


^«»»/r/.  an  Ideal  PHnct 


«hj  d«n,.,  not  the  per.f„.  u  tr"°,'"  *»  ••»  P""i 
«%  no  turn  of  nJot  „■•  J      i  """  P'°'-     1'hw  i.  t 
I...  not  boon  tho^S^t  out-:'"''"'™'  »'  "«"««'"«' 
d-elop  hi.       „  S^^^'^^  «;-"««  that  »m 
^«8  the  perfect  master  „/       "«^aniatic  purpose. 
*^»-ou^hI^  into  S./;o,m  tw'*'"^'/"^  ^""^J- 
Prj«  his  thoughts  and  h[sv.WnfK°"^^  completeljr 
. .  Jn  the  case  of  a  drama* .^.f     u    ^"""»"  ^'^^• 
*'«"  to  iho  constructfon  of  K^^^«'"^»  «<>  '"uch  att 
r"t  of  his  narrative    as  SI    ;  P^"*"  '^^^  ^^^  devd 
-portant  to  stud^  Zl^tZncl'  ^'  "  ''^^ 
»'    the   dramas.     A«   win,    il      """^uwons  and  uo, 

d"™.tic  narrative,  thcreli;  ™""  """e   oM 
»5«t  he  framed  them  i„  eve,        ■^  ""'"'  '»■■  ttinki. 

•'ohnson  and  many  Jafr-r  «^!-  ,,  °  assume  with  n 
"/>  thought  on  Si^  cond^;  InV  ^^'^^-P'^-e  spf. 
thought  is  „ot  easil/  reco^^^^f,"  ^""^^  *°  «how  fh^ 
the  construction  of  ^  dram?  ^^u"'''^"  ^^P^^^cd  upol 
careJcisness,  whatever  anZu  l"^"^  "  "°  evidence  o 
It  r"^*^  "  *°  assu'^ethlt.n"^^' proper  attituS^^^^^^ 

conclusions  are  as  ShakesDear.       u'l^  particular  th 
times  assigned  to  the  vlrioS 7"^^^  *hem.     ^he  i.! 

probabljr  conform  exactly  to  m/"""  °^  **»«  drama 

-tt!^.ed-mafeKprntttS 

m 

th/Uth'^fo/t  lwn"dr^„.^™i,'  S-okcpeare  '»  be 

"''  ""'  *»  «K«rd  him  as 


nil 


ill 


»cter«.     In 
P«r«on8  of 
■••e  i«  prob- 
rative  that 
t  will  best 
pose.     He 
loulded  it 
letejj  ex- 

ch  atten- 
devolop- 
specialijr 
»d  issues 
of   the 
thinking 
''n  ideas 
ith  Dr. 
'■e  spent 
•w  that 
d  upon 
cnce  of 
ude  for 
ar  the 
le  des- 
drama 
poetic 
7»  and 
raa  is 
fson's 


o  be 
n  as 


InterprHalion  of  Shttke$pear, 


15 

tuo-   notion   tl'ttiS,-'  -f,  tdlt'"""""'' ""; 

c"r  uH  "tt't"''  r""'«  >'■"«'"'""  ""-- 

Ih^t  l,e  ,„eant  and  Lo„„f «    ,  /        "-^  '"'r''"'''-^   «'"<1 

of  cntiei,„,  tl,.t  endeavor"  to  Ike  ShaZ*'"""''  *J'^ 
o<xgh]y  modern,  and  refu.~  T  !•''"'*»"' *''»■- 
notion,  at  all.  There  i,"^  .  u  '"'"V*  Eli-iabethan 
»"oh  great  work,  of  "r  a"  th  Sh  1"  "'"'•''"''  ™''"  '" 
hot  the  best  can  be  jot  Jrll  ?''"''"P'«"'«n  drama,. 

regarded  a,  ,i  "tcentfoeMuTv  ti;/"  ^  "  '^^  "^ 
speare',  idea,  have  not  bTiTn?.?  P""*!"^''™'-  Shake- 
»oen  in  their  origilnetW  °"^"T'  "^^  ""'^  ""^  "-"t 
■nuch  that  the  ire.te,t  Z.^l,^*  /lu  "»'  '"'™''"='^  " 
ish^an  on  n-atfer,' oThS  ?et'v':"Cn'*''  '        *■ 

™.t^\?rre':,t'rh:i^t■^''^4'^•'^^•  a'  v 

shoulder  hi,  ^„re,p™!wHl°"  '.^  ''"'"«  Shake,peare 
on  the  part  of  "afte^^^t'liL:"''"''*  "'^"^  "^"'^'^ 

t^XZiS^zr^t  ■^^ticf  w-'i'  ■■' '-  ■•" 

interpretation  of  Shake,,^^™  •  Jr'  ""^   P'»i" 

»»n.ptio„  that  onirterLrr^^at"" 'd*"'  r 

'  Thk  i«  n^*         .  •'^        «rreat,  and  only 

"i«e^™".„"d'S^i°^CTtaVi""'"*'  »"  ««  »f  textual 
possible  tiK  ,„j,  „„^"°*  »}"  1»  to  recover  for  u,  «  >„  „ 


16 


! 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


Shakespeare  is^the  ^^eate  !     ?^I  "*"*^^-     ^^^ 

«eern  that  he  is  to^  S'fn  S    ^'*"«t"ts,  it  . 

and  must  be  conceTved   '    '         *'."°*  understand 

not  permitted  to  think  ,?.   TT^'^'^^^y  ^^^P-     ^ 

greatness;  and  he  must  not  ^l  ^^  u*^^^^  ^°"^^  »<>*  ' 

ediy,  for  this  would  not  i^^rJs't!  \^'!^^-^^  P< 

can  be  allowed  which  I  «K-'     ^°  'nterpreta 

that  would  have  In  v  mea„^^^^^^^^  ^^P^eially  r 

apparent  friends  o^  S^   ''''  Ehzabethans.     TJ 

terpretation     of    the     dr«T*''  ^""^'^  "^^^e  the 

Baconians  would   'X  fch^ihir'-^    '' 


TV 


approach  them  in  «,;«.,     -.'"'    ^    '""''^    trfcd 
to   understand  Sem  aa     ^       'P'"'*'  "-^  ""ave  tri 

them  to  be  uninteZiSL   Z  "1  ""'"•"'  "'""-"i 
for  their  improvem™f'*\;"^,7/""'»t  devising  pi.; 

of  Shakesper  roan  schoJarshh.  L  """'l?"'  q««tio, 
on  problems  of  narrative,  on  wh^r.?"^  *r*  ^"" 
depends.  The  approximatelv  „  T'  "terpretatio 
.cholars  have  at  I^st  CnthL""f "='  *«t  with  whic 
true  interpretation,  but  ntt  ."nvll  "'''-•We  aid  t 
covery  of  the  sources   L.     '"™'uable.      The   dis 

always  verj  interesting,  and  ?n  2:^  "'  "■'  P'-^'  i 
for  frequently  the  mofi  s"mificrt  {  """  ^Wf^stive 
are  found  to  be  of  Shake,rare'r^  ™'  "'  """tiv, 
historical  investi<r.tions  thf.  1,  ?""  """"tion.  Th< 
also  enabled  us  i*^  ,ome  measu«  ^'  h*en  ca„i^  „„  J 
the  audiences  for  .-homXr^rlVrlJ.tt  ?teh^^ 


'i[]: 


Hw^i^- 


h  and  only 
'■'     Because 
'»  it  would 
rstandable, 
ep-     He  18 
i  not  show 
n^s  point- 
rpretation 
iallj  none 

'8*     These 

^e  the  in- 

as     the 


Interpretation  of  Shakespeare  yf 

gven  us   our  method  of  approach      Rnf   *k       , 
themselves  as  finished  works  ofTrf;.  ?  .    ^^   P^*^' 
are  after  all  the  only  works  th«f     ^      ?*  ^°^  ""*''^' 
from  the  -ster's  tnrl^tlTeL  ^o^th"^^^ 
tThTw^o'^d^'  ^''"^  '''''  -''''-  ^^'^'^^r:^  not  fdlt 


must   be 
tried    to 
ave  tried 
issuming 
»g  plans 
uestions 
bearing 
relation 
h  which 
?  aid  to 
he   dis- 
mays is 
?estive, 
rrative 
.     The 
'n  haye 
as  did 
lis  ha 


"     "\\t      "I"  I'lff      I  nil 


!    ' 


!:  li' 


ill  I 


.kt-^'sfe. 


HAMLET: 

AN  IBEAL   PBmCB 


1- 

i'll 


■  i'-' 


i 


CHAPTER    n 
HAMLET: 

AN    IDEAL    PRINCE 


Interpretation  of  the  Play 

eipr;^?^^^^^^^^^^^  than  a 

Shakespeare  meant  by  hfs  play  o/^ijy^?  'i;?'^  ''^'^ 
been  written  about  the  pUv  Li  U^^l '  ^^°''  ^""^ 
about  any  historical  person"^  wm.  .^^«''«-^"  than 
and  yet  no  satisfactory  e3anjf  \""^'"  exception, 
and  we  are  still  trvin/U    i      f.  '*'"  *•""  '^^'n  reached. 

The  .c^,„wS<^^Tffl::£^•  fit:  ?L'„"ri  "r  "• 

reach  a  oon.^.ett^/LVi^^oT/etf^naTo'"''?  '" 

helief  that  n^&hetvi,  .7  ?■»''"".*'  '»"'  " 
thf  play  nor  the  cW  ,7    •         ''''*''^'''''' "'•''her 

™ncu,  and  my^t^ions  C  not^^^IrptV  V!!;' 
Prince  a  very  intprosfin^  l   »    .  ^  P^ay,  and  the 

but  not  a  great  charac  1/  '^r^-'^''\^'''^  phenomenon 

21 


I   i 


11 1 


S2 


ffandet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


^eak  and  irresolute  charftpf*.i.      ^ru    •  .^  «. 

world,  however,  has  nof  >^  T^^  intelligence  of  tl 

the  play  or  the  cha  acter  t'L""  '^    *°  '^«*'^  ^^*h. 
place.     The  persistenf   .     ^."^^n^gma  or  as  a  commoi 

public,  whichrtheeLT^^  *^^  P^'^^'^-" 

fi-nt  and  scholarly  puUc  L  thTtt  •  ™''"'  *^^^"*^"^ 
a  noble  character,  Cg^atestl:'  *  T.u  ^^^^  ^"' 
character  in  all  dr«mo?     i-x      ^^^  *"^  *he  greates 

satisfy  the^pubL'Th^l^'^^htrd  ''^  ^°^^  ^- 
play  something  mai^estlc  an/'  .1,  'l"°*  '""  ^"  t^, 
thing  noble  and  grand    '  '"       '  '^''^'*^'"  ««°^^- 

P%t*rh:^h7rLtXr'eT*  '^!'/"^*^^^  -*^  *^^ 
presented  any  great  ^Vihl'  /"^u'^'^f"""  *^*t  either 
days  of  Elizabfth  Th^T"  V^'.  P^^^'^oers  in  the 
Han'let  was  one  of  thltns/'  ^^T''^".*  ^^^^^"^^  that 
plays  in  the  dramat It's  own  P°P"^^^°^  Shakespeare's 
fai;  to  assume  that  'waT  f*^'  "'  ^",  ""^^'  ^"^  ^t  is 
presented  some  rathe/rfi  ?  *  P""-'^"  *°  **^^™'  hut 
there  was  ^Zjf^ZJZ^^^^^^  "^"*  ^hich 

that  it  could  attracfsn  -     ^    ..  '"  altogether  unlikely 
tical  age  i?  the  pW  l"  toThemVr^'^.r.^l^^  *  P^^^ 
to  us.     The  men  of  Th!  Ia      f  ^^  ^'^^^^  '^  has  become 
of  Elizabeth  were  not  'r"-"'°"'  ^"^  ^*^"^"^  times 
the  supposed "1":*  of  Ha^J"  '^  ^Peculation,  after 
chiefly  in  the  practTcIl  /ff  '        .  'x>?  ^'^^  interested 
the  nLon.^?he  ,  :ratu?e"tL°/  '""^  "^"^'""^  ^"^  ^^ 
days  had  to  do  mostly  with  the    "'V^'"^"^''  ^"  *^°^^ 
time  in  church  or  staip      ^^  m  ^'^^^^'"^  events  of  the 
Han^let  ^:^,^st:\l^^^^^^^^^^  of 

W  X^ranin^f"  r^^^^^^^^ 

produced,  andTStilttfr^eW  f  ^'  *^  -' 

They  Income  mysterious   o^r  t^lrg^^  ^^^^^^^^ 


*fia_ 


*"^t^fe: 


Hamlet 


S3 


when  the  local  and  temporal  conditions  have  changed, 
or  when  some  phase  of  their  content  has  been  over- 
looked The  clue  must  then  be  found  in  a  reconsidera- 
tion of  the  work  and  of  the  conditions  of  its  original 
production.  -^ 

Theories  of  Hamlet. 

It  has  become  apparent  to  most  students  of  Hamlet 
that  no  existing  theory  of  the  play  is  entirely  satis- 
lactory  The  usual  interpretations  all  alike  fail  to 
account  for  the  unequalled  interest  always  shown  by 
the  public  m  both  play  and  character.  The  two  out- 
standing theories  doubtless  contain  much  that  is 
valuable   though  they  have  also  much  that  is  valueless. 

Wi-ST  ft  l  '"^f  *^'°^^'  ^«P^^i«»y'  has  done  in- 
justice to  the  character  of  Hamlet,  and  has  even  become 
a  great   obstacle   to   a  proper  interpretation   of  the 

think  that  Coleridge  and  Goethe,  by  the  substantially 
nTi^^Jt  TV^'^  advanced,  in  regard  to  the  man, 
liamlet,  contributed  more,  especially  Goethe  (as  he 
exercised  a  wider  authority  than  Coleridge),  toward 
shutting  ofF  a  sound  criticism  of  the  pla^  than  any 
other  critics  or  any  other  cause."  1  ^ 

thJn'f^°1l!';^^^^"?^.*'^"°^^  ''  *^^  ^^^^^  source  of 
The.,  r  *^"\^^™^*  \  ^  ^i-t™  of  procrastination. 
Ihese  two  great  critics  have  made  much  of  Hamlet's 
delay  m  carrying  out  the  injunctions  of  the  ghost 

T  ^r  "*iri^"*f^  ^^  *«  ^  --tain  irresoluteneTs  o 
character.     They  have  said  that  the  difficulties  were  al 
internal,  and  claim  that  Hamlet  is  too  deficient  of  will 
or  too  overbalanced  of  mind  to  carry  any  plan,  into 

D.'c  HetS.' tco.^*"*^'^^"'-^'  "^y  H'-™  Cor.on.  p.  213.    Boston, 


«4 


"^fnlct,  an  Ideal  Prince 


i  I 


«ecution. 

'^^^^-^  ^^^^^^^^^^^  to    ..pudiat.    . 

Prese„t-d«3.  reader'  are  JLJJT^*^'  "^  the  PnC 
Jo  Msert  that  on  fl/  ^"-^  to  endorse  TTJr.-^- 

''«nt  fiifts  af^-f^'"'^''^  nature,  with  th  '^T* 
««y«  h^  L  °f  ?'"^.  «"d  h^«rt."  ^  '  j;„V^"  "'Oft  br 
h.i!  /       .    *  neroic,  terrihio  «        ^^rofessor  BradL 

^o  We  „  urge  S^Xotrrd 'C'V  ?""""'  ^-  » 
"c^-  Hw  words  after  h;.  «  7  ."'  '"  hold  himself 
Pl«y«s,   that  have  (»1„  .  t  *'"  interview  with   hI 

"/^  ^«m/.<,  pp.  88,  92,  96. 


Hamlet  gij 

'**  '^tiM"' Z"'*^**"  evidence.     The  spirit  he  has  seen 

tTe\t^«'  't^'  '"'  **^^  P^^^  ^'"^  '--»  beyond  doubt 
Wot,  ♦/  T"'^*  °'  i"""'^^"^^-  It  is  the  pirt  of  id.- 
dom    then,  to  wait  for  the  evidence. 

These  elements  of  the  situation  have  been  much  better 
understood  by  the  Klein-Werder  theor^  S  theorv 
fhft'  :^  "Pudiates  the  view  of  Ha^et's  cWter 
^ews  Tlfffi^^,.'^^  incapable,  and  as  a  weaklinTlt 
views  the  difficulties  of  the  prince  as  external  rather 
than  internal,  and  explains  the  delay  as  n^essary  in 

«nt'  V?.'°'r  "^^^"'^*^  corroboration  of  tte  Revela- 
tions of  the  ghost.  Hamlet  has  had  suspicions  which 
are  verified  only  by  the  ghost,  though  by^no Zg  tta^ 
to  wtrnreTo  T  ""'  ^"V!"--^''  -d  not  sX^^ 

The  Xst  too  haT.  Z  l""^"^  '^'  ^^'  "^  his  uncle, 
ine  gnost,  too,  had  told  him  not  to  harm  his  mothpr 

«L  *  -i-      .,.  '*"'"  ""^  '■'"e  »'U>out  at  the  tame 

'Z'^j^z^r^:'^-' ''-  ^^^^-  ^^«<^-  -^ 

kil«!!!r**7i°'l°°*  r«"^  ""™^^*'«  ta«J^  «8  the  mere 

th?"k^;.'  Het"^s  ''Hi:^\r"*^°",°^  ^-«-  "p- 

murderer  ofh,-«  TfV  ^  ?  J"'*^^  *°  P"n»h  the 

muraerer  of  his  father  ...  and  to  satisfy  the  Danes 

of  the  nghteousness  of  his  action."  ^     Hai^et  is  caC 

upon  to  "revenge"  his  father,  not  meVehto  kill  tU 

murderer  of  his  father.     The  proLsT^f  VrLo      ^ 

very  different  from  the  act  of  sTayTng      To^lSrth: 

kmg  at  any  time  he  chanced  to  m^t  him  m^Hf  ^ 

plica£a:^r&i?[;-I>^r^s::l 

p/^*'n^"'Jo1  te"'''  ''^''"^'  ^°«"«^  *'««•  by  Wilder. 


96 


Hamlet,  an  hJeal  Prince 


xaiis  only  becftii««  ;*  "-^  ***«"  any  ofh«.^ 

«oaaI   and  political   aL?  of  V"t'*'*'^"^  ">«  {«r^ 
cannot  assign  a  motivl!   °^^«™'^t.  and   therefc 
course  throS^hout  thrpirv*^  o  *  .1°  f^"""*  ^o' 
the  plajr  mxxBi  bo  called  a  trJ:«.^      .5"  ^^''^^^  theor 
"«.ver  did  succeed  in  publid "^^^  ^^f^'^"'^'  ^or  Ha  °L 
crime  and  of  justif^^i?"  hS^^^^^^  t^e  king  of  / 

^de  a   notable  advance  unon^'K"'  ^'^^^  *^^«ry  J, 
theory,  but  cannot   be  said  7o  K^"   «°^the-Colerid. 
heart  of  Hamlet's    myZt      p  .^  P'"^'^^^  out  th 
heones  fail,  as  all  otE  f^'  bo  °*^   ""l  *^^-   class 
^ore  certain  parts  of  the  t^''"''  *^'^  Porsistentl" 
«Pcare.     Some  of  these  .1«^^  "'  "^"tten  bv  Shake 
sources  of  tK«  a  ^  elements   are  in   fi,       '^/'aKe- 

bv%h!b  '^''^"'^'andsomeofthr.mk     ^  °''«^na] 

tX/^\^^P^are  himself.  iTis  VkI  ""^^  ^""  ^^ded 
tures  of  his  play  that  d;/f ;  •  t^'^  overlooked  fea- 
a  I  other  dramatists  a„VrateT^^  ^^\^-P^are  from 
others  of  personal  reven^«j  ^^f^  ^'^^^  the  many 
entirely  by  itself.  And^tl!'.!?  "^  ^^^^^  '^  i"  a  class 
burnish  the  key  to  tt^il^lfe ^y^te^-^^  *^^^  ^ ^  cTn 

'  wKUff^f  alHbe     . 

-TanraLtr  V^'^^^^^^^^^^ 

thought  thYt^X",    fterll  t'-^-  ^^'tl 

-^eavoring  to  preset  t^^/^T^^^  only 


i    'Ujj 


^Mi:  .ntni. 


Hamlet 


^ust  brin^ 
at  he  m&y 
nd  before 

•ation   of 
thor,  and 
explana- 
'e  iar^r 
therefore 

^or  his 

theorj, 
Hamlet 
R  of  his 
orjr  has 
'lerid/ife 
3ut  the 
classic 
stently 
Shake- 
riginal 
added 
d  fea- 

from 
many 

class 
e  can 


pur- 

the 

only 

por- 


«7 


h^s^I^^h!!^  IS'P  inscrutability.     Professor  Dowden 
,     has  said  that  Hamlet  >s  not  an  enigma  or  a  puzzle 

but  «a  mystery."     He  says,  "Shak.^re  cheated  it  a 
,    mystery,  and  therefore  it  is  forever  sug^stlve     for^ 

ever  suggestive  and  never  wholly  explicab£/M 

In  reference  to  King  Lear  the  same  writer  expounds 

h,s  conception  of  Shakespeare's  art  in  these  words    "iJ 

life  proposes  inexplicable  riddles,  Shakspere'I/rt  mnff 

would   say,   we  must   be   content   to  let   ShakesnearP 

hfe,  these  cntics  imply,  and  we  need  not  wonder  thit 
we  cannot  understand  Hamlet's  problem.  To  us  ««  to 
fnTl '.•*''  "'^l*''^  ''  ^'^'"P'^t'^'   «nd  both   problem 

This  kind  of  criticism,  however,  returns  upon  itself 

the  play  is  only  to  confirm  the  mystery  of  life  K  *k 
darkness  is  only  deepened    and Thl     ^  /        *  ."^  *^^ 
confounded        J^  ."^^^P^"*^'  ana  the  confusion  is  worse 

™  a  man  wrV      T^  """"'^  ^°"«^*  *^**  Shakespeare 
was  a  man  writing  for  men,  about  problems  of  1.  inTo^ 

•/6«.,  p.  958. 


Il^ 


i,! 


ffamltt,  ON  Iflial  Prince 

declare  its  subject-matter  niVMtcrioi.M       a  j 

would   attempt   to   DortrA^        i     ?i         ^  **'"'""  ^'»*t 

tion  that  neither  expraUfh??'^'*'^-     .^"  '"t'^rpreta- 

be  to  us  a  mvsllry  bS  it  i/'"'?''^"  ""  ^«^^'  "'"v 
to  understa/d  it  and  *ot  h.^^  ^  K'^""''  ^^  ^*^^  ^«"-'« 
«  play  so  nniversallv  knS^*"''  '*  ''  'nscrutablc.  In 
bodied  a  view  rfl?fe  thlf  •.     we  suspect  there  is  em- 

understand      I„d  the  ^aUtla    ^  Z'^'^  T  "^"^  *« 
solved  the  mvsterv  onl J  [  ^f'^'^''^"^  bas  not  jet 

efforts  to  iTrl7t  itsteni^.  ""^'^  "^  ^«  ---<* 
I'f^^Play  and  the  Sources. 

1«.  have  inhen?Z'^Ji;?„t°cfc;pt^f''ti:!  "^r'" 
version,  and  thi»  «li«l,*  ^'         "**«^t  copj  of  the  actincr 

tance,  .„d  do  not  afft^f  1^  "'  '"'*'  ™""  ™P»f 
«tudy  of  the  tert.  the  whole  text  7„J  *  It"'  *  ""'"I 


liliii. 


ilnmlet 


S9 


text,   should    dimlosc    to    um    the    heart    of    Haiulet's 
myttery. 

There  are  many  other  things,  howovir,  that  miffht 
help  us  in  understanding  the  play.     Great  assistance 
might  come  from  a  knowledge  of  the  production  of 
the  play  under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  drama- 
tist himself,  but  the  records  are  too  meagre  to  be  of  any 
rt'iil  value.     Researches  into  the  literature  and  history 
of    Elizabethan    England    have    added    much    to    our 
knowledge  of  the  period,  and  have  enabled  us  to  see  the 
play   in   connection   with   the   gcncrjil   and    theatrical 
conditions  of  the  times,  but  these  have  not  unravelled 
the  secret  of  the  play  for  us.     The  comparisons  of  tht- 
play  with  other  plays  of  the  type,  the  revenge  plays, 
have   not   brought  us   much   nearer   to   the   heart  Of 
Hamlet.     Shakespeare  always  seems  to  write  above  th  • 
level  of  thought  and  })u.ssion  of  all  other  dramatist. 
And   the  search   for  the  "sources"   of  Shakespeare's 
plays  in  the  works  of  earlier  dramatists  and  authors 
has  so  far  yielded  nothing  of  very  great  value.     What 
we  may  lack  through  the  loss  of  Kvd's  Hamlet  it  is 
impossible  to  say,  but  the  meagre  results  of  lla,  com- 
parisons of  other  plays  with  their  known  sources  leads 
inevitably  to  the  conviction  that  Kyd's  play  could  not 
furnish   the    key    to    Shakespeare's    Hamlet.     Shake- 
speare seems  to  make  quite  independent  use  of  all  the 
material  he  finds  in  earlier  stories  or  plays.     These, 
however,  may  give  us  a  point  of  view  for  the  story  and 
serve   as  a  valuable  introduction   to   the  dramatist's 
own  work. 

ThDugh  we  cannot  unravel  the  mystery  of  Hamlet 
by  studies  outside  the  pi  .-  itself,  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that  sometimes  very  valuable  hints  or  suggestions  can 
be  found  in  the  sources  from  which  plays  have  been 


I 


30 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


;t«  meaning,  and  gins  it  ah         '^''^'"'^  ''"^  ^^^hJ 
t^n^es,  as  in  the  case  of  yt  f,7  ^;^"'^'<^-n--e.     So, 
brushes  aside  the  n.ore  rcl-onf     ^'^''''"^  "^  ^'^'"^•^. 
«nd  goes  back  and  gives  'n    ''^"f'"^^  °^  '^  «to; 
original  meanine      Hoe  'ntt?rpretation  of 

f  ;y  tl,at  has  tt  tn  ?:„:  'r''  ''^i^^-  -  an  . 
^t. through  the  crucibe  of  [•;.  °?''^'  ^"^  ^•^"  Pu 

bnngs  out  its  hidden  wealth  Th"!^''  ""-^'nation,  ar 
Je  has  done  in  the  case  o  ffaJef  '  ^^^^^^^""3^'  ^"«  wh, 
^o^ver,  is  to  him  onl y  a  £'  ^^  ^^'^'^^^  ^^^^^ 
parts  of  the  drama  are  hi^  '  """"^   *^'<^  "'ore  vit^ 

^    Of  the  probabTsoure  :  o7thT f"'"*'°"- 
^o  are  accessible,  the  on '1^^^  onl 

PJ«J  of  ffanUet  has  befn  ,  7  ^^^^"eforest.     Kyd* 
Fratricide  Punished,  very  Lib  M^  ?^  German  X 
mon  source  with  IlaS  nJ^  ^^^^  ^^«  ^^^er  a  com 
«tory      We   must  W^;/ the ^>*^^  ^^^'^-^  ^'the 
speare's  play,  then,  only  to  the  ffiT"-''"  "^   ^hake- 
the  ^^,,,,^  „f  Bellefor Lt      It    !  "'^  °^  S^^°'  ««d 
that  Saxo,  Belleforest    and 'qk  t       ^"'*^  remarkable 
tures  not  to  be  found  in  "tr     ''"'"''  ^'^"t^'"  ^'a- 
^^"  be  seen  to  be  of  Lat  val.f '•'"^"  P^"^'  «"d  these 
.    Even  in  Saxo  the  re^en  1  o  "fh  ^"  °"!;  ^'"^^^P^^tation! 
«  much  more  than  an  Individ „«]'  "'''/^''  °^  ^''«  ^«ther 
with  Hamlet.     The  killing  olX  k'"^  P''"^""^^  "^^^^er 

ttl    '  r,-"^*  °^  ^"^^ividull  jus^t  ee    b"^  T'  ""^^  ^^^^^^  " 
time  a  deliverance  of  the  counfr  "'.  "*  ''  **  *be  same 

fa:  t::^^  ^o-jsi^'ei- -  - - 


:  iji!« . 


■?5,^>Jre'*" 


tJic  inner 
lirondens 
Soine- 
enice,  Jie 
a  story, 
»n  of  its 
1  an  old 
^^^  puts 
on,  and 
» is  what 
il  story, 
re  vital 


and 


f  HamUt  gj 

Tthe'Sdrr  H^r/'  ^'?  ^"  ^"^f  ^^"^*  -"*-«^  -th  that 
.    ui  uie  eiaer  Hamlet  who  preceded  and  w.'fK  +k  4.     *  iT 

:    younger  Hamlet  who  follows  h?m  for  in  Saxo  th*      '^" 

lives  to  become  the  next  '  in^      \ «  -    u  ^  P""*'^ 

Hamlet  of  the  fourth  bo  Cf'  'f^'^"^  '*^''  "'^h^ 

^    of  the  word,tiZ;*t  ^'  '^  ;;?oX   1S^   "  T  T^*^ 

:    pretending.     On  the  co!  .a  !    '  '  •  ^^""^^  "'^ 

true  Norse  type   and  T^^T,'^-  "'  '",  *  "'^''"''^  °^  ^^^ 

■    rivalled  cunning  »"    He^  i^'""  and  strategist  of  un- 

I    upon  the  king.     After  l,o  has  kX  the  Icfnt  ZT 
I   drosses  the  people,  speaking  of  hinitelf  as  "Z     \^ 
of  your  deliverance"  „„^  t.ii-       ff  '"*  autlior 

done  unto  mv  lord  Rn^  /o+V  '^'If stance  for  the  violence 
made  account  to  effect  it  well  inough  wif  hoit  e:;posini 


m>: 


■li 


Ml    I, 


iii'  ' 


9i  i 


s» 


Handet,  on  Ideal  Prince 


J  h-ve  so  Imppi '    r„ '^  ;,''7'"-  "'■■'I.  "t  tins  p, 
further   revieJrin/  «,  °  ?  '"'""•"  '     ^hen, 

>nuH|ero„3„„e,e!ifa;,Tj7[^  »d   character   o^ 
the  infamy  of  mv  contrv        }     "*  ''*'■'  '"k*"  ' 

thatinbr.cedyoJrrri'""  ^^'"r"''"'  "« 
the  injurie  committed  both  tn  J  'i  1l  *""  «■■'«« 
country.  .  .  r  °  ™'/'  '"  ""y  father  and  mv  n. 
ticn."/         •    •    ^  "">  'he  author  of  your  pLe 

fo^sTr-o/d'-'S'aiiisSi'^v''"  -'>-'  '■'. 

-a  national  hero,  ar:Ldf^"t*  "  P"*" 

the  corruption  and  servitude  „Tfl        •%°°""*''3' '' 

uncle,  and  that  he  accomnlTl,  5  '  'f  ""^ked  king, 

valor  and  without  hazaSfhf  l""'  7".''^  h"  « 

Denmark.    ^No  wond,-   tu^         ^""^  "'  the  people 

tell,  he  "wan  thraffeeiiotVJh*'''  T^  ^'^^^ 

wept  for  pity,  other  fir  Tov    to     "".'j'"^'  *•""  » 

««Jlant  spirit  of  Hamlet  »?^' t?,  '"  ^,  "^"^'^  a 

Hamlet  a  real  national  hero     „d  f  •  ^^^^  *'^<'»  ">« 

speare  has  apparently  incoroorl  /•  ?'\'P'"'  S^al 

that  up  to  this  time  has^^t  £ "^  '"'"  *'»  P'ay.  ai 

and  readers.  '  °°*  ***"  appreciated  by  criu' 

Portant  t"'st™3r^;;  111'  r^>  ''  "'con.es  im 

veloped  in  the  eariy  sdes  °f  '^  "";  !"""«»»  a,  d" 

exposition  wiU  prove  to  gTveL^f"?-*    ™'  ''«»>•«< 

'n.  BsuoH.  of  B,„,JT  "V      "«ht  point  of  vie« 

Of.  Note  A,  pp.  Ml^  j,/,^ 


same  should 
this  pri'sent 
I'hen,  after 
't«r   of  his 
taken  awajr 
ed   the  fire 
grieved  at 
my  native 
preserva- 

pst  known 
portrayed 
ntry  from 
^Jng,  his 
'  his  own 
people  of 
oceeds  to 
hat  some 
ome  and 
ds  make 
t  Shake- 
lay,  and 
V  critics 


nes  im- 
as  de- 
amatic 
>f  view 
sprinted 


Handet  gg 

for  a  proper  under  tandinff  of  the  nlav      A  „«  ^  j     i 
^  of  the  trouble  comes  from^the  iLtiL  ft  ^7    t*^ 

that  the  pla,  is  notThi,  J.^^? TeAr  PrillrJ 
Denmark,  but  a  wort  nf  ;,«„   •     x-        ,"*^"  iTmce  of 

Ihe  Fnnce,  Hamlet,  cannot  be  saiH  f«  k^  *k^    , 

he  is  the  chief  character  of'The  ;i"      *'^  P'»^'  "">"«•• 

pearance.     Hamlet  comes  upon  the  stlirT  for  f h    /^" 
time  m  the  second  scene,  after  mLUl    i^""  ^""f * 

Vol.   VI,  18M,  pp.   1697  fflr«.7«S.  ""''"•  '"  ''°"  i»". 


8i 


Camlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


>••'  *  twrtce 

solution  of  theV/oWeiSThoL      ^^^  *  ^^^*°^  ^" 
he  soon  dominates  ev^mht*^    *  1*?*°^  «°  ^'^'^e 
matic  hero.  everything  and  becomes  the  . 


|i  • 


Handefs  Silence. 

•"«  to  his  conoeptlonf'^r'^'  ^''^  distinct  utt 

assigned  him  by  the  eh™t      H       "?'""''=  "'  «>'  ta 

'y,'.«  own  mobies,  not"  v^n  i^Lr"  •"!  ^^P'""»  <='« 

fnend,  Horatio,  nor  vet  iL  t,l   h  f  Pnyate  talks  with  } 

due  in  part  to  the  C"ha  ^T^f-     This  ,nay  1 

As  we  have  seen,  the  nroul     r"  f  "  ""t  "•'  Pla 

solved  hy  reference  only  L  T.  "'  ."«^  P'^J  cannot  I 

of  the  play  is  develop^  fefot  h'L"""'     '^'■^  '''"»«" 

and  as  we  shaH  see  later  rt.*!!  "?"  °»  "•«  stag, 

only  aft„  his  de.th/'M^^;,f'  '"'f""  "  "ach* 

troubles  and  his  task  of  rev™!!  '  *'",<*aracter  of  hi 

nature  that  he  cannot  ^^^T""  "' 'u-h  a  person. 

The  fact  that  his  trouWela^      i  "'"  *»  H»"tio 

cannot  be  verified  at  p^'t  Zka^^  suspicions,  that 

to  his  bosom  friend.  '  "'"'''  »  declaration  even 

"'  -'^-ies  .o  n-lJt^tiS-  L"ne*"-^J-^ 


jiiil  ;i;!, 


!  ill 


t  before  he 
seems  only 
that  Ham- 
=tor  in  the 
lar^  that 
'  the  dra- 


Hamlet 


35 


expressed 
ct  utter- 
the   task 
ns  clear- 
with  his 
3  may  be 
he  play, 
nnot  be 
ituation 
5  sta/Bfe, 
reached 
•  of  his 
ersonal 
oratio. 
»»  that 
•n  even 

There 
;recy** 
arcely 
'»  and 
i^hts. 


Ini     ^"V°^l°^"^'  ''^'''^  °^^"'«  ^'"  his  first  appear- 
ance  on   the   stage,   Hamlet   denounces   his    mother's 
perh^ty  marriage/'  as  if  this  were  all  f hat  doubled 
him      His  great  grief  almost  breaks  his  heart,  vet*  he 

:X^ay1n^^  "™^"'^^  '^™-"  ''^'  '^  -^  -^^k 
"But  break  mj  heart,  for  I  murt  hold  my  tonguer 

(I.  a.  i«9.) 

In  all  his  associations  with  his  friends,  moreover 
he  enjoms  them  to  the  strictest  secrecy  resardLTI^l' 
revelations  made  to  them  When  Hnr!?  5  .^ 
others  tell  Hamlet  of  the^appriLe""/  h^"  Zst  t 

%i!'z:i:^i  :tif  r!;-  ^.r;  ^-^^ 

an  unde«t.nding,  but  no  tongue  "^iTgS  )    Ifti' 
he  has  hmself  seen  the  gholt  they  ask  htm    "WW 

:SI"re7ea°f  »     ^  fh'  '^^  ''^'  "4«/^o7y:u' 

s^  ante  ctr^;i;r  ^„rf^■"? j»  ci 

fnat "  'a'?  '"''  -'•if-ently,  "But  hJs  an  Srln 

"It  Tr»    1^      r  r"™*'  '»'"•  »""  "Murine  them 
It  IS  an  honest  ghost,"  he  makes  them  swear  sVm^ll' 

upon  the  cross  of  his  sword,  "Never  makrknownwh^ 
you  have  seen  to-night."  »  '^"own  wnat 

Hamlet  finds  it  impossible  even  to  make  a  confidant  of 
Horatio  for  not  only  is  his  trouble  only  a  suspkion  but 
at  IS  of  the  most  intimate  personal  kind,  invo?^  ks  it 

sh?;  L wnThf tto^  "^°*'"-  .^-^-iei;:te"fri::d- 

aiiip  oetween  the  two  is  so  genuine  and  strong  fh«*  w« 
raho  remams  his  trusty  friend  without  I  Zw^Lrf 
*I.  V.  117-8,  183-4,  136,  143.  ^ 


ih:' 


«(! 


!  'I' 


HI 


*; : 


(       I' 

I       :         If 


51        ' 


|i  ! 


I 


fiG 


tfnn,let,  an   JrhaJ  PrU,ce 


.  •    •  •line 

and  more  than  nlmhtV  T"\'^''''  *»^«n  ^^o\ 
*J^«nd  of  the  play^wLn  T^"']"^  *«  t^"ing  him 
charges  Hora/o  a^^  de^th'tf^'  '^'^"''^  ^^ 

To  ti'rSratESeS"^  "^  """»«  «riKht 
Then  after  xnvinc,  k;„      .      .  (V.  JI.S9«-7. 

""'d'  on  hi,  ,;      ..Jf/;  °^""'"k.  he  die,  witt  t 
No  words  of  Hlml.f.i      !'*•«*•"    fV  ii  ..2 

A';  ''«  word,  are    ,'r,  "nn"'""'"'^  ">«*  they  To* 

■•?fc'»ce   to   the   e„  t    »l^  r""''™   ■"">   ^e  cM 
about  him      q^u      '^""^e  situation  and   fK<.  ,. 

<"'  us  hi^word^a^d'Zlr  ""'^'-  "-'trrr": 

o?srkr^""'"**^''°^^;:,':'^V"''th"'"'  -^^ : 

01  Shakespeare  to  delineate  M      u     "  ""^  supreme  a. 
■ntimate  relation  to  the  situil •  "'""■"'"s  in  the  mos 

d'a-na,  and  never  in  rolltrn         ""''  """"''"™t  oHi 

«*fe.J:nt£iHr^ 

and  motive  of  w      i  x      "°  ^^^  clue  to  tJi«     k 
"7-  able  t:  :LSC  """^  ''-^  ''■^  ""'t  tv?t? 
C/.  Quotation  from  Edward  r        . 


^mjflt-.  , 


'  cJear,  how- 
the  otJiers, 
(?  him.     At 
et  solemnlj 


i.sae-7.) 

of  Fortin- 
mth  these 
"•  345.)' 
'  thoughts 
7  sliould. 
'e  closest 
onditions 
interpret 
Ij  under- 
does not 
xph'citlj 
triicular 
Jon  and 
rive   the 
eme  art 
^e  most 
:  of  his 
action 
■  fewer 
biy  for 
ed  the 
tis  the 
;  sur- 
facter 
e  not 


Hamlet 


87 


|7V^    External  Relations  of  the  Persons." 
\      r*^,^       ."?  J^*"  influence  and  example  of  Goethe 
f  nearly   all   criticism   of   Hamlet    has    overlooked    and 
^Ignored  the  dramatist's  careful  exposition  of  ?he  situa 
ition  as  gn-en  an  the  first  scene  of  the  play.    ^X 

'rd T^arttic"*"^  ^'k"''°"  ^'  *'^  I^^^>-  '«  ^  -  "-1 
and  inartistic  encumbrance  to  the  story,  and  led  the 

way  in  disregarding  it  in  the  interpretatio;.     This  first 

scene,  however  contains  the  dramatist's  own  exposition 

Haml^'ts'^'tr '  °V"""k'"^  "^  *^^  environmentTnTh  h 
W Ti  f  to  perform  h.s  part.  The  fallacy  has  un- 
fortunately been  passing  current  among  scholars  th^t 
Shakespeare  was  very  careless  in  reconstructing  the  oW 
plays  upon  whach  he  worked,  and  they  have  therefo^ 
felt  no  necessity  of  paying  the  strictest  attentTon  to 

sition!  '^T^V^-^'  ^"  r^'^^  ''"*«  ^'^  dramatk  "po- 
sitions.    But  It  IS   nc  w  high   time  to  cease  iffnonW 

rdden^^^h^r/^^'T'^p^^'^"^  ^^^*  ^^  ^--^s 

added  to  the  material  that  came  to  his  hand      TI,p 
cnticism   that  attempts   to  find   all  of  SlScespeare' 
thought  without  studying  carefully  all  his  words  hi 
at/ndL'f ''  ''  ^^^  ''-^'^^  -^  ^^om  ntwt 

expra^nTr^rr^L^rnX^^^^^^  ^  1^^^^ 

play  explains  very  fully,  have  never  been  seerto  hav. 
any  significance  for  the  play  as  a  whole  Th"  ll 
young  Fortinbras  has  in'  th'e  saa^e ttner^neveTtet 

potnf^;ide"„?^i^Hi"^"^"^  'r'-'  -  ^  -^  -^- 

almost   the   en?h-'e   firs  "  T  '"^^  ^  ^■^''''^  '^''^''^'^  ^- 
tne   entire   first  scene   is   given   over   to    these 


'^iiz^zmf!'^. 


ilM: 

ii 


r-niii^ 


II  i 


88 


^^'"fc^  an  Ideal  Prince 


f  Ja^tfe^^^  reeur  to  t,.  ver,  „ 

alwajs  to  be  hovering  ovTJd!!'^  ^"""^  -«rrior^s 
its  intended  prey      &"       ^*^"'"a'-k,  like  an  eaaU 
t:'l'^\'^t^'^^^^  directly  inM?; 

Po^ibJe  t.  Tndieate  t^at  trr^^*  ^^  done  ever; 
;^4 -at.n.  o.  ,e  tt-,--^^^^^^^^^^ 

Goethe   snoke   «#  *l 
Hamlet  as  the  «Wf        f  *"  ^^'cumstances   s,.r.       j 

declared   that   Sh  f"''^  '•'^^*''°"«  of  the  J"o    " ' 
KoJi  f  ^   ^'lakespeare   ho^  Persons,"  a 

badlj  and  to  no  dramatL  n.  "^^na^ed  them   ve 

saj  that  "All  ^hl  ■  purpose.  He  m«^^u  i\ 
be  very  fit  ^  ^^^^  «rcumstances  an!f  !  ^^^ 
here  fL     ^"^^  ^^Panding  and  wL  ""^  "''^"ts  wou 

D^rf,-     i^/"J"''^  exceedinrfv  thl*^    ".'"«^  *  "^^^Ij  b, 

particularly  as  the  hero  ha!  L^l    ""'*^  °^  the  piec 

quence  entirely  out  ofXe"  "^^e"*  '"^  *"'  ^'"  -"« 

"^g    these  external,  sinrie   rf;„»-     f  P'°Poses  concerr 

motives,  to  cast  them  all  at  on'^'*^'  *"^  di««ipat'n 

a  sohtary  one  instead  of 'them  »  'w^^^  ^"»>«titut 

*Jf  plan,  which  is,  briefly   toTl'    •  "^^  *^^"  elaborate 

Wittenberg  and  the  unte'rsi^v ^Tf  *'  *«  reference  t, 

directly  with  Norway  by  mlt-'*.*^  "°"»ect  Horatio 

rr?rv"';^^-Halt™tl"^^^^^^ 

crime,  Horatio  counsels  h,m  *  ^<*^atio  of  his  uncle*, 
company,  to  secure  the  aff  .•  ^  *°  ^"'^ay  "rhis 
return  i„  ^„,.j^^    ^  t^e  ^affections  of  the  army^^a^a 

the  trouble  to  consider  all  f^    *^:  '"^''^^^J  eyen  tales 
tions  of  Denmark  aid  Nni    '  '^'e^ences  to  the  rdl 
-entirely  out  of  Xf  "'^'"'  '"*  ^'^^^  them  iide" 


ill 


1  j  (iiiliu.,:)! 


'.  1 1  Iff    y*A 


'^J^y  end  of 
'«rk  passes 
rrior  seems 
ea^Ie  over 
the  fourth 
;  the  third, 
8  "almost 
-verjthin^ 
Jtaches  to 
the  two 

Toundin^f 
>ns,"  and 
em   verj 
^  bold  to 
-s  Would 
•vel;  but 
e  piece, 
n  conse- 
oncern- 
jpatin^ 
!>stitute 
borates 
ence  to 
foratio 
of  the 
ancle's 
in  his 
'»  and 
takes 
rela- 
aside 

Ion. 


Hamlet  gg 

coI!^i,M^^rZ''''^  G«th.  proposed  ta  ,nake  miRht 

:  be  changed  and  would  hive  n  rrl«H««  ♦     *u 
^  know      T-Ko  /  4.-i-i       f  .\  relation  to  the  one  we 

'  of  7*    I       "*'^'*^  °^  *^'"'^  suggestions  upon  the  Da^t 
I  re.t.o„.  of  the  persons."     It  is,  therefore,  of  the  Zh 

before  the':X„mTr:  "-L'^t"'  ''°™''^ 

staTdW  ii    itt^rr""'  *'"*  !■?  "■'«'"  have  left  tim 
theTllf       i  i"°  <"""'«t>on  with  the  motive  of 


40 


ilh  • 


"O'-Ut.  an  Idrol  Prince 


.^r^a"  t  XZ'S:t   "■'  P'"^-     The  refe«, 
>;>«>-ith  a  h,„,,  .^h"  :*"■':  ■%"■',  «<•  h«vo  C 

from  the  fir,t  ToT  !u°C""  "'"•3'  Sh.kcpcaro  „t, 

nobcr  passion,  and  to  connect  Th^  '*  ^"^^^  ^'''*-" 
^'tii  a  more  truly  dramatic  , if  *•  *'^*'°"  "^  ^^e  p 
W  previously  done T  ^t^t""  •'^^^  ^''^"'a' 
^^..^  where  he  made  loveTerve  th'"''  '"  ^'^'^^  « 
cihn^  two  rival  houses,  andin  r*  ^P^'P""^  «f  rec< 
^J^^re  he  made  the  love  of  P,"  '*^"''"^'^'  «/  ^^^m 
"leans   of  frustrau'n  °  tL   cr^nl"*  ^"^  «««»«nio 

meamng.  P^^^^^J  also  its  moral  and  spirits 

^  he  Dramatic  Situation. 

«o"  Xeterj'2'  f,:^  ^"- >^^^^^^^^^ 

«PP-.  and  „„.  ,,  I,-  1--  ™,__. 


reference  to 
e  furnished 
fiis  play  the 

are  utiJizcd 
fst  Quarto 

deliberate 
sin^p  situa- 
that  lifted 
a^  reven/fc 
•s  enables 
ofticr  and 

the  pJay 
dramatist 
meo  and 
of  recon- 
/  Venice, 
anio  the 

*   Dierc 

himself 

piritual 


^st  act 
?rvous- 
Jversa- 
)f  the 
Den- 
»rway, 
e  late 
ot,  it 

mon^qr 


Hamlet  ^1 

two    nights    have   seen;"   and    which    L    ♦»,„„  i 

^ppeared   for   the  third    th...   i:'':t.^L""S'r Jt 

Horatio,  the  wise  and  faithful  frienrl  .^f  H i  * 

all  of  which  are  quite  unusual      w/t     v    a^  ^?"^'' 

extraordinary    watchfnlnn!      ^  tt    ^^^^^^  ^'^^  o^  the 

calls,  «tWs  fame  stri^        li  °^   *^   P*'^'   ^^'^^^   he 
Thla  »     ij  ""*^*  ^^^  most   observant  watrJi '» 

active  manufacture  nf  no««  ^aaea  to  this  is  the 

men  into  the  work,  and  keeDinrthZ  l        ^  ^^''"^ 

'™;r;  B^'™  *-"  '-* '»' "-'^"^  -<>-c«o: 

*C/.  Note  B.  pp.  293-5.  i„/ra. 


if 


V   i 


4« 


f^^n,let,  an  Jd.al  Prince 


*'"«  Hm.  strut  wutrl,    ;» 

!;";tc.    and  ^«„^         know  ♦!      '^  P""^'^'^'  ^»th  *'« 
'*  l^l  can  inforn,  „k.?"7i  *';--«".  -«^in^,  •'V 
^n  reply  to  fhf.  ;«„   •   ^*' '♦  '^79.) 

^^-^-  f  UJ^^rd^/  ,^^^^^  Horatio  u 

'"t^^^nded  as  a  defence  L^'^  lu""''  P''«^P«rat,on 

oyouug  Fortinbra/oV  ^rC  *'^t*'"1*^"^^  « 

cicar,   he  goes   on   to  exDlaTn^.'     ^° '""^e  the  ni, 

J7*7n   the   two   eountZ    "r^^   '^^   ^'•^"We  , 

Hanilet  m„s  a  brave  but   .         *  .?'"'""   *''«*   the  , 

7«  Vick'd  on  by  a  n,j:r''"*^^  '"""'  «"d  ThJ 

t"e  combat  "  K„  /iT      , .  "''*  I'nulate  onVI,.    ,i 

Hamlet"  :^  .^i-j  *'■;;'•""  '••"M.nbra..''"?;,1?;« 

"tacked  -"uuLrXn^i'I^T'-  '«"  ■"-■>  ho' 
"'  l»n.,   and   boldly  .S         "j"  '"  '"''«■  "dvant 

Now  tiK.  yoang  Prince  „fv*"'^  "'  "onma 

defend   his    country      W    *""•    *'0"s  Norway,"  and  f 

*^  apparent  crisif  i„   tt  aff   '"^  /PParition   wit 

«th"'  -V*"  ^^'^  portents  in  rZ'  °C  »^"™ark.  an 
the  m,ght  est  JuSu,,,.  and"^;,^^  .'le/ore  the  f^Jj  ", 

the  interest  of  heaven  in   thf  Jbrth       ^'  "^^'^^"^^  of 

forthcoming  struggle. 


i| 


■""•-iii. 


J"  >i 


.t-Z' 


ihcy  fear  a 
noticta  that 
^ith  •♦awrettty 
"/?♦  "Who  U 

'•atio  under- 
^rations  are 
ncd  attack 
the  matter 
'uWe  arose 

the  elder 
id  that  he 

dared  to 
P  "vahant 
'n  he  Was 
»tivanta/fc 
hi   thii 
»•*   of  his 
^I'nniark. 
ome  into 
I  lands," 
'  making 
iierefore 
and  the 
is  taken 
>untrj'8 
re,  even 
and  to 
ate    to 
n  with 
K  and 
fall  of 
•nee  of 


HamUt 


48 


.   nation.     It  is  borne  out  bv  Bern«r,l«  *„„      u        *^*P"* 

>  flamltt  and  the  Ghotl. 

The  gho»t  in  HanUtt  no  doubt  Dcrfom..  .„   • 
portant    dramatic    function       m.£!,  ,  """ 

boon  Shakcpcare-.  belfcf  Xut  ^o't^Te  uTmLs'T 

«P,«ared  to  MtS^poJtt'^X'wh.rttint: 
«;ay.  the  ghost  in  HanUet  discloses  to  us*  fh.    **>^««n'^ 

notonlfofthcfactof  th/^L'^"'  ""''''"''*«'  P""'- 
the  truth  of  hisword,  H  ."  "fP''."''"''^'  ''»*  »' 
.ho  word  of  Bet r :,  Sl.t^rcotin^ct 


ai^S2P^3iaiLj«s^:."^^M«iS3rf«- 


'  i     I' 


l<    : 


l>    ^ 


li 


!„':  3! 


l-l;, 


■i    ; 


iKl 


i     j:;(' 


i^il 


li.ll 


i'l/i 


M 


44 


^''^^''  an  /rf^„/  p^i^^ 


Horatio  a„ur«  ha'm  ;i,ra„  "\u  1°    ™»""ce 
report,  .aying,       °  "'"'  *»  <>«tl>  of  the  truth 

""'  '  ""  ""•  "■'  •""»'•<.  tort.  •„»  ,„,,. 
TT.      ,      ,  (I-  ii.  391.) 

^is  doubts  are  nof  ««  ii 

^cene  when  he  seefthe  "host  7"^^  ""*^'^  ^^^  ^^ 
evidence  overcomes  4  morl   J  ^""''^'-     ^t  last 
foul  suspf.,-,,.,,,  ,„^  HaS  Lin  .'"''.  *°  ^^'^-- 
^hG  king.  "™'^^  's  convinced  of  the  guf 

Ji;ce\rtt;11^t-r^^  «bout  the  ghost.  . 
that  fact.  OnltrlpSancr  "^?.^*  ''^attached 
speaks  of  it  as  having^?^""*"'^  °"  *^^  «ta^  Hora 

In   which  the  maj«[y''oJ  ITl'?'*"'^'^  form 
Did  sometimes  ma  "h?         ''"'**^^  Denmark 

And  when  Marcellus  asks,  ^'^  *'  *^-*^) 

Horatio  rephes:  "''  "  "°*  "''*  *''*  '^'"«?" 
Such  was  the'^?erv°»r!L'"*  *°u  ♦''y^^J^' 

When  Marcellus  fnril.       ,.  ''' ''  **'•' 

Horatio  au^^t  that      ""^"'^  "'  ""•"««'  -Ulk,' 

(I.  I.  «9.)  ' 


imlet,  appar- 
s  the  last  to 
^at  Horatio 
nvince    him, 
truth  of  his 

lie." 
) 

the  fourth 
^t  last,  the 
>eh*eve  sucli 
he  guilt  of 


Hamlet 


45 


ost's  war- 
tached  to 
'  Horatio 


stalk," 


(I.  i.  109-111.) 

"A  figure  like  your  father 
Armed  at  point  exactly^ cap-a!p«  »' 
(I.  ii.  199-200.) 
Hamlet  seems  not  more  impressed  wlfl,  fj,« 
of  the    ho,,  than  with  thoTcT'thlf  k  ''^a^C^M  » 

h«  frieUTn  rau'thfra^i^fthT'th'"  r'^''»"' 
"arm'd."     Then  h,  ^3f  „      /        "t  ""*  k""'*  "as 

convinced  of  the  trur^^T'"™'.  *''™'  «'«',  when 
the™  to  keep  ^:l7ur  st^Zt*'""^"''  '"^   ^^ 

"Give  it  an  understanding,  but  no  tongue- 
When  alone,  he  observes,  ^^'  "'  ^*^> 

(I.  li.  254-5.) 

"*:  t\?t:x^rtt,^'th'arthrk'  '■•'^'"-- 

.n  a™o,.     When  we  take  tt t 'ete^lf^n  ^Ttt 


46 


Handet,  an  Ideal  Pnnce 


! 


"li 


¥■ 


'Wn''?ho''nl»t?'**"'*.'°  ""  «""<'»'   "»  they  „id 
upon  tftc  platform  where  we  watch'H  »  it  ;.  • 

All  that  Hamlet's  friends  HaH   +«t^  i,- 

ghost  appears,  and  remarks;  **"**  *^*^ 

"Something  is  rotten  in  the  state  of  Denmark  »    (I.  i^.  90.) 
To  this  Horatio  replies,  "Heaven  wiU  direct  it »    Th« 

mplj  that  the  task  that  is  faZ/ 1„  5,7°"  *" 
merely  a  personal  matter  fet™„C and  ht  ,V" 
but  a  momentous  undertaking  of'^'aTn^fon'^^mp'rt.' 

■rheCharacter  of  the  Elder  HamUt. 

1  hough  we  see  nothing  of  the  elder  Tf.».l.»        ii 
stage,  e«ept  his  ghost,  it  is  reaUy  he  wh^T  ^  °"  *.''^ 
spring  of  all  the  action  of  the  play      ft  w  J  t  T-"' 
to  gam  his  crown  that  had  impend  0^^^-      .    T 

rfu-^g^r'hL^f h.f :'  <-"'- »'  HtmSt  ?o  2^  j:Z' 


I   if- 


Jk??^^^Vlf^o^ 


Hamlet 


47 


elder  Hamlet  constitutes  the  main  plot  of  the  play,  and 
from  this  grows  the  entire  narrative. 

There  are  many  evidences  in  the  play  that  the  elder 
Hamlet  was  a  very  different  man  from  his  brother 
Clauchus.     Not  only  was  one  the  innocent  victim  and 
the  other  the  cold-blooded  fratricide,  but  the  rule  of 
the  two  kings  was  as  different  as  possible.     Under  the 
elder  Hwnlet  the  kingdom  of  Denmark  had  been  hon- 
orable at  home   and  respected   abroad.     It  seems   to 
have  been  a  kmgdom  which  both  citizen  and  alien  rec- 
ogmzed  as  strong  and  good.    But  under  Claudius  the 
good  name  of  Denmark  had  been  lost,  and  the  whole- 
some fear  of  her  just  power  had  passed  away.     Cor- 
ruption and  debauchery  now  stalk  through  the  land, 
and  foreign  powers  think  it  weak  and  debased.     On 
the   confession   of  Claudius   himself  it   appears   that 
young  Fortmbras  thinks  its  weakness  affords  him  a 
good  opportumty  to  make  -ar  upon  Denmark,  and 
a  fitting  time  to  seize  the  l^nds  that  his  father  had 
lost  to  the  elder  Hamlet.    It  is  for  this  reason  that  he 
is  now  threatemng  Denmark,  and  if  we  can  judge  from 
the  condition  of  the  land,  he  might  reasonably  look 
for  a  complete  triumph. 

The  change  that  has  come  over  the  country  is  but 
an  index  of  and  the  effect  of  the  difference  of  the 
two  kings.  The  younger  Hamlet  has  made  most  strik- 
ing contrasts  between  his  father  and  his  uncle.  In 
the  interview  with  his  mother,  when  he  tries  to  dis- 
suade her  from  continuing  her  guilty  relations  with 
the  king,  he  calls  her  attention  to  the  portraits  of 
tne  two,  saying: 

"Look  here,  upon  this  picture,  and  on  this. 
The  counterfeit  presentment  of  two  brothers, 
bee  what  a  grace  was  seated  on  this  brow 


A*.' 


,'!i'fl 


:i 


r   I'"! 


ii'li 


...■i 


'*t,i 


48 

»a'»fe<,  <m  Ideal  Prince 

preparations  to  MarcZ  °  7P'»»««o„  of  the 
df  t  from  this  speech  Zt  h.  ""*  ""'"'•  "  ■» 
"ho  ruled  solely  i„  "he  j"''''  .'"'V«  mo»t  noble  ki 

not  in  his  Persia,    n  e  ^s,    *He    «'  *'''«^'""'  ' 

«nd  m  no  way  molested  any  of  h^  „  'lu"''  *™'''*'" 

1>«  land  in  prosperity  and  „/        "!'«'''»rs,  but  h 

ever,  «  weak  but  a  veL  valia'^?? ^     ^'  ""^  •">*'  h< 

of  our  known  world  « WdT  »?«•.  ^<"  "  this  s, 

goes  on  to  say.    He  S        "    ^^-  '•  »«).  «  Horal 

t^te  to  go  to'war  te^lirk"'"'  """  ^^  ■><""' 

attempt  to  plunder  .„yl?htr'i„T-     «'  '">'J''  » 

Pe™.t  any  other  to  pCdt  K^  "«^°"'  n"  "ould  ) 

«bfe  king,  but  not  apfa^at  aJl      •"",  "»'  «  P^«e 

Therefore,  when  F^rtlnbras  If'^v"  ^'''«- 
l"m  to  war,  he  valiantly  took  1  'S^''^  .."'"''knge 
if  we  are  to  judm  bv  tbi  ^  •  "P  ,*''*  challenge,  Tn 
"unt  of  the''w.f  h/vt?r'H?.°'  Shakespeafe's  a" 
Portinbras.  By  Cvi^Z'^f^rT'"^  "^"^  ''e' 
Pute  fell  to  Dimnark  S  «  l^"^'  ""'  ""^  '■■>  *» 
remained  his  without  L^Son  O  "J*  \'  *■'  ''''«'  thej 
d.d  Norway  once  mojf  hM  ii^f//  "i'"  ■«  ■""  d'-d 

»himt-vjjr  ^-^"--^^"^ra?.' 

"ero.     He  was  not  the 


1^^ 


Hamlet 


49 


JHfJ  f i  "«f '^y^^^  and  conquering  hero,  who  made 
71  cu  f  ^  °^  "^f '  *"^  conquest.  With  that  kind 
of  hero  Shakespeare  has  no  sympathy.  He  was,  how- 
ever, the  dramatist's  ideal  king,  who  loved  peace,  and 
would  never  make  war  but  who  would  not  hesitate  to 
go  to  war  m  defence  of  his  right  and  of  his  nation.  He 
would  not  wage  an  aggressive  war,  but  was  valiant 
enough  to  defend  his  kingdom  when  attacked.  This 
18  the  only  kind  of  hero  Shakespeare  recognizes,  and 
for  this  kind  he  had  the  most  profound  admiration 

f/T),  U  u"  f\  ^^""l  appreciated  this  character 
of  the  elder  Hamlet,  or  have  seen  in  the  account  any 
significance  for  ine  play.  Werder  alone  seems  to  get 
a  ghmpse  of  it  when  he  speaks  of  him  as  the  "hero 
king,  Hamlet's  father."  i 

In  considering  the  younger  Hamlet  it  is  worth  while 
to  observe  that  previous  to  Shakespeare's  version  of 
the  story  in  both  Saxo  and  Belleforest,  the  names  of 
father  and  son  were  different.  The  name  of  the  father 
m  both  earlier  versions  was  Horvendil,  and  only  the 
son  was  Hamlet     But  Shakespeare  has  given  the  name 

of  the  father.  This  fact,  taken  together  with  the  son's 
wonderful  devotion  to  the  father,  make  it  evident  .'  t 
Shakespeare  desired  to  have  them  conceived  as  of  simi- 
lar character.  Certain  it  is  that  he  has  left  the  im- 
pression that  the  son  is  but  a  second  Hamlet,  of  the 
same  character,  and  of  the  same  self-sacrificing  yet 
heroic  type.  As  the  father  was  an  ideal  king,  so  is 
the  son  an  ideal  prince,  and  Fortinbras  in  the  last 
speech  of  the  play  says  that  if  Hamlet  had  been  put 
on  the  throne,  there  is  no  doubt  he  would  "have  prov'd 
most  royally."  i'  «»  u 

*  The  Heart  of  Hamlet'e  Myttery,  p.  68. 


» 


so 


fJ^nOet,  an  Ideal  PHnce 


i '  -I ; 


-m  u 


Claudiut  and  tha  r««j'^. 

.    The  «coTd  *e'„?^'fr  ^^  """»«'*• 
■»  the  weak  andTo  °    .     ^'"^  "'*''«  ■'  clear  th. 
Claudia,  that  "ate?' 7'"r  "'  ^^--rkt 
J-"  of  Porti,bra.     Prom' r  t  ^'"'  ""'*«  «" 
Hamlet  ha,  had  .uspfj""    tV't«'""'»«  »'  «>o  p 
finned  a.  the  plot  devZ'  "''■'.°\ '"  «r"-«du«lly  c 
erted  a  very  evil  ■„«        ^  '  "■»*  Claudius  h.. 
'?ter  develop™::'   hfrthat"'^"  *,'''  "-t^      1 
v;ned  the  true  inw.rdwM  nA?"""-'^*  *"  "■«»>% 
Jun'clf  i,  fuUy  eo-^"^.   °/,l'"  '""ation.    Claud 
frou.  hi,  lip,-;,  ^7^t  "^he  state  of  .ff„-„7* 

='««,  the  fact  thft  younl  p„!?';?"''"''»-     He  d 
who  esou,     fear  and  S  f  "\">"''"  l""  "»  .„, 

"' '-  ■""-  -  -.■«  ?h:'dX-i^  ^tio^^.. 

Claudius  further  re,„ark,  th  f'l"'"*'^ 

Norway,  uncle  of  younrPnrf  i.  *  ^'  ""«  "ntten   to 

"'train  the  fiery  ^^^  rf'^f  "'k'^P'"""*  >■'»  t" 

patches  two  courtier,  to  tht  s^l  ^"''  »"''  ""'  «»- 

^pphcating  Norway?,  a'Tt   ""'^  by  weaWv 

«^th  h,,  neighbor  and  preventfl?;'"?  *"  ^^P  P^ace 
ness  1,  ,„  gre,t  contrast.  »„  .k    j  ">™sion.    This  weak- 

kt.  when  the  Dan^h  royal  ^l^-'y'  "'  ""^  *"«'  W 
-- -     H  ...  HaS  ^^i- o\e't:r!g^ 


t„.-Tfe.*-^ 


Hamlet 


51 


jpening  of  the  play,  we  need  only  wait  for  the  later 
eyelopments  and  for  his  villainous  attempts  on  Ham- 
let s  hfe     Claudius  is  indeed  as  much  a  villain  as  Mac- 
i  K-rl  *"^^7^»^ J^*«e  or  nothing  of  Macbeth's  great 
iabihty     The  ghost  speaks  of  him  as  one  "whose  natu- 

Ia   /S^"  '^"^  ^°°^  *®  ***°**  °^  "^ne!"     (I.  V.  61-52  ) 
And  Hamlet,  comparing  him  to  his  father  in  his  later 
[interview  with  his  mother,  calls  him: 

.    ,        ,^  ^*'A  "Ufderer  and  a  Tillain: 
A  slave  that  is  not  twentieth  part  the  tithe 
Of  your  precedent  lord;  a  vice  of  kings." 

(III.  Iv.  96-98.) 

f  nnrV^^?"*^'"'\**'°"^^  *  ^^"*'"'  ^««  '^apaWe  of  quirk 

;and  effective  action.     He  was  clever  enough  to  lave 

no  traces  of  his  crime  when  he  killed  his  brother,  and 

I  he  showed  dispatch  and  skill  in  quickly  bringing  about 

the  election  of  himself  as  the  next  king  bef^^f  W 

let  could  return  from  the  university.    This  same  powTr 

of  speedy  action  is  his  greatest  strength,  and  eLbles 

c^t  I^dtge^r^*'^  ''-'  ''  '-'  eteedinglyt^! 

Gradually  there  is  disclosed  in  the  plav  considerable 

:ut™"%°'  ".f"'"^  ""™P«™  and  LI"  X 

Ha^r    ■■  ""•  """/ '  ""*  ''^"»'='  »'  Claudius! 

™^v  a'ndTT  "'  '*.T  '■''  "*»"'  '"»  'he  uni- 
versity   and  the  king  readily  admits  his  dissipations 

Z  l°"u  "'?''*^'  '"^  """''  »'"'»'  the  condftion  of 
the  world  in  his  first  soliloquy  are  spoken  more  with 
reference  to  Denmark:  " 

•^e  on'll    O  Del  'u,  ™  nnwMded  garden 
li^rJSj;^'?'  "^  '«*  -5  gross  to  n.ta« 

(I.  U.  1S5-7.) 


0« 


-i 


ff^^et,  an  Meal  Prince 


""  elaborate  festiviticT /?'"'"':  *"''  Hamlet  p 
«ene  H.„Jet  refer,   otLlhlh?*'""!     '»  ">* 
™"  '""•d  Horatio:  "We'U  t.     k    '  *"''  ""■"■caUy 
you  depart-  (I.  ,;.   ^V'  *-«''  you  to  drink  defp 

»iOl  Horatio,  Hamlet  «1'  ,'"'  »«'  conversal 

'"«  habit.,  and  .^f  '«"'"  »I»«''»  of  the  king  "dri 

TK    f **"e-dnim  and  trnmfH;  xl    ""enlsh  down 
The  triumph  c     his  pJe™^^*  ^^^  b^ay  out       ' 

('•  i^.  8-19.) 
♦Vhen  Horatio  asks  .V  ^^.•    • 

«p«e,  that  ..it  i»  a  cltrj,:,?-f  .T'-'  Han.,, 
tiian  the  observance."  At  I  i  !  "onor'd  in  the  brea< 
t"e,  to  , how  to  his  ™„tW  i!'K  *™'  "I'™  Ha^ 
he  speaks  of  him  as  "the  U^'at  k  „^.7«?"  ?'  his  u„c 

To  the  virtuous  mind  of  H„^f .  ^'"-  '"■  18«). 
feature,  of  this  debaueherv  ^,t'\  '"^  "^  'he  wor, 
Jheir  reputation  amon^n/tl      ^*^  "  '""  destrov« 
«~  ha,  .u.reredr;:r«;r,."'^  '"''  "-- 

Soli  our  addiOon."      "^''  ""^  «^th  swinish  phrase 

vicil'r,:':?- „Te°^t  """'"^  ■""-«  -f  ..,on,e 
""•til  such  men  *""  """"P'' the  whole  b^,^°' 

(I.  iv.  35-6.) 


-  lii--'' 


Hamlet 


58 


rhe  inevitable  implication  of  course  is  that  the  whole 
Jtate  of  Denmark  has  been  corrupted  by  the  king's  bad 
habits  and  vicious  nature,  until 

Doth  all  the  noble  substance  of  a  doubt 
To  his  own  scandal." 

(I.  iv.  S6-8.) 

I     J^i!-  *'°".*^'H°"  i  corruption  impresses  both  Hamlet 

land  his   fnends  almost  from  the   outset.     When  the 

ghost  has  vanished  after  his  appearance   to   Hamlet 

land  others,  Marcellus  at  once  recognizes  its   relation 

to  the  country,  and  says,  "Something  is  rotten  in  the 

state  of  Denmark"  (I.  iv.  90).    It  is  Hamlet,  however, 

with  his  deep  moral  nature,  who  most  fully  recognizes 

the  king  8  corrupting  influence  upon  Denmark.     After 

I  the  ghost  has  revealed  to  him  the  matter  and  the  man- 

!  ner  of  his  murder,  Hamlet  at  once  sees  that  the  crime 

IS  not  a  mere  matter  between  him  and  Claudius,  but 

that  It  has  engendered  a  bad  condition  of  affairs  in 

the  state  and  that  it  is  imperative  upon  him  to  set 

himself  to  the  task  of  reparation: 

••The  time  is  out  of  joint .—O  cursed  spite. 
That  ever  I  was  born  to  set  it  ri^l— •» 

(I.  v.  189-190.) 

These  thoughts  are  no  doubt  in  Hamlet's  mind  when 
Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstem  tell  him  the  only  news 
IS  that  the  world's  grown  honest."  To  this  he  quickly 
replies  that  "your  news  is  not  true,"  and  goes  on  to 
say  that  "Denmark's  a  prison,"  and  "one  o'  the  worst," 
and  at  any  rate  "to  me  it  is  a  prison"  (H.  ii.  233-246). 
A  httle  later  in  his  great  solUoquy,  referring  to  his 
grievous  troubles  and  sufferings,  he  calls  them  "The 
slmgs  and  arrows  of  outrageous  fortune"  (HI  i  68) 
No  doubt  he  is  thinking  not  only  of  the  foul'murder 


54 


^<»^t,  an  Ideal  Prince 


of  h'    f  

S^P*r*u°  our  state"  (Fi  rq,'"  t^''   «<>««   st? 

*"  w  not  well  wi'fh   rT         *°  indicate  a  feplin™  *u 

for  a  m         .     '"'■  '"raself.    At  (!r  .    •   ™'"»'im  onl 
'or  a  m„„j„t  ^^  i.     At  first  sight  he  wonder 

rVspearjo  ?i  S^^K'^^^r's  person 

And  &d  J^hil;,  S-|h^i»U  itself  «3SuId  gape 

This  pictures  Hamlet  a,  ^''  "'  '^^'^ 


Hamlet 


65 


ness  to  undertake  anything  in  his  behalf. 

*f  fU  °^"i:***'r!^'\*'  ^l^^'  *^"P^"^d  »»»  first  fears 
at  the  «ght  of  the  ghost,  he  addresses  himself  to  him, 
camng  h,m.  "Hamet,  King,  father."  and  begs  him  to 
tell  him  why   he   leaves   his    tomb   and    revisits   "the 

Say.  why  ,s  this?  wherefore?  what  should  we  do?" 
(57).    He  apparently  expects  some  task  to  be  assigned 

nTt^Jlw  r?^  ^  ""*'?  ^"i^  °^^-  "^  '^y^  J^- does 
not  set  his  hfe  at  a  pin's  fee.  and  intimates  his  re- 
solve at  any  cost  to  foUow  it.  He  feels  that  when 
the  ghost  beckons  him  it  is  fate  crying  out,  and  he 
feels  strong  for  any  task: 

"My  fate  cries  out, 
And  makes  each  petty  artery  in  this  body 
As  hardy  as  the  Nemean  Uon's  nerve." 

ll^^l  ^i'  u'T^\  *7  *°  '***'"'^^"  ^i™  from  following 
the  ghost,  he  breaks  loose  and  says : 

u»  k  Tn'.'^°^*"*'  ™*'  gentlemen; 

By  heaven,  I'll  make  a  »ho8t  of  him  that  lets  me: 
I  say,  away!-Go  on;  I'fi  follow  thS."  ' 

(I.  Iv.  81-6.) 

Hi,^l!?*l,''"''**u  ^"*"^i«^,^th  the  ghost  that  follows. 
Hamlet  hears  the  story  of  his  father's  "foul  and  most 
unnatural  murder,"  confirming  all  his  worst  sZi- 
cions  His  devotion  to  his  father  is  shown  in  his  ea«r 
attention  to  the  sordid  story  of  his  uncle's  villainy  and 
his  mother's  weakness,  and  in  the  declaration  of  his 
willingness  to  give  himself  up  to  the  duty  of  revenge. 
He  IS  impatient  of  the  slow  rehearsal  of  the  murder, 
and  cries  out:  ' 

"?f  **J?*\*°  ^°'^'^'  *•***  '»  ^"h  w'ings  as  swift 
As  meditation  or  the  thoughts  of  love. 
May  sweep  to  my  revenge." 

(I.  v.  80-31.) 


56 


I   I 


»^^t.  an  i4eal  Prince 


Wh      J,  ^f*nce 

Hsmlef,  (j„,  th„„  . ,  .    .,         "•  •■•  »9-i04.) 
Wn.  not  f„  ''  fr  ""'  ">«ur„„  „',/'"'  thought  1 

i^Kc*..^..'r  '--^"t  \rT  ;■•--"■ 

P««nUv  „:^  ^*"''  not  thy  mind"    Ti5    f'  ""«  «' 
«nd  Was  to  ]rp««  k-        *  *°  regard  hi«  fo  i      ^  "^  ^' 

•nd  not  to  »,  L         '■''»'''«  moral  „,j      ?*"""«'«! 
Wmwlf    %?.!.'"'""»  "on"  bv  c^t'  .'"  Denmark, 

!"««nce,  and  no/  th/  u'*^  ""'  "™of„  j,;,    "".""f 

•t'int  tt"  tl  1,at"r'  »"""  -thT'  V-'  '«■ 
^»  task,  for  fh. T^  ^''  "'Other  xrreatlv  ,"   ^*^ 


HamUt 


57 


rhe«e  rtstraint*  laid  upon  HamJet  in  the  accom- 
[plwhment  of  his  ^roat  task  were  in  fact  but  the  re- 
straints  which  his  own   moral   nature  and   his  irrea* 
reverence  for  his  father's  character  would  impose  upon 
h.m.    His  great  devotion  to  his  father,  as  Werder  suir- 
ji'sts,  was  probably  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  he 
turned  to  hmi  whm  he   found  his  mother  so  i«,oble. 
rh.s  love   for  his   father  and   his  own  moral  convic- 
tions now  found  expression  in  the  words  of  the  irhost 
He  was  determined   then   to  preserve  his  own   honor 
and  to  spare  his  mother,  leaving  her  to  heaven  and 
to  her  own  conscience.     His  task,  therefore,  was  ex- 
tremely difficult  in  itself,  and  was  made  still  more  ardu- 
ous  by  the   highly  complicated  circumstances  of  the 
case.     Ihese  restraints,   however,  Hamlet    freely   im- 
posed  upon  himself,   for  he  could   not   bring  himself 
to  sacrifice  his  own  moral  nature  or  to  do   violence 
to  his  mother  even  in  so  great  a  cause  as  the  aveng- 
ing of  his  father's  murder.    In  Hamlet,  then,  the  dram- 
atist has  portrayed  not  only  a  most  intellectual  but 
also  a  most  moral  character. 

Hamlet'a  Tath  of  Revenge. 

The  task  of  Hamlet,  then,  can  only  be  appreciated 
when  considered  in  reference  to  all  the  attendant  cir- 
cumstances. The  situation  that  the  dramatist  has  so 
carefully  developed  is  most  portentous,  and  the  moral 
restraints  that  Hamlet  has  imposed  upon  himself  very 
greatly  circumscribe  him  in  the  accomplishment  of  his 
task.  The  disordered  internal  conditions  of  the  king- 
dom must  be  seen  as  the  occasion  if  not  the  cause  of 
the  incipient  revolt  of  the  young  Prince  of  Norway, 
and  the  threatened  invasion  of  Denmark.  As  the  son 
of  the  late  king,  and  as  a  possible  future  king  him- 


I  ^  ill'f 


I 


f«",  Hamlet  mnsf  i«„i. 

A?r  these  °"^'*^*^°^*'-age-'^f  hl^ 

of  foul  n?«,,****'I?*"*  ^'^'rcumstances  an/l  tu 
in  Haml?;^    °  *^^  ^^^^'h  of  his  fit      l^^  suspicion 
eveSl*  V^°«dition  of  sad^  tW  •^*"'  '"^"^^^^ 
hS^^  ***°"*  *he  court      TK     J-   *  "  "^t^ced  bv 
Hamlet's  suspicions,  and  the  aJ^'  ^"«'  "«'  knowing 

must  die.  PaM.n^  !k         ^'O'nmon,  and  "nH  *l^  ,  °°* 


tfcjiS ' 


Hamlet 

ihese,  but  the  trappings  and  the  suits  of  woe" 

(I.  II.  85-6.)  ' 


59 


When  the  king  and  queen  have  gone  out,  leaving  him 
to  his  sorrow,  his  first  soliloquy  reveals  his  great  bur- 
den of  spirit.  He  feels  the  load  of  grief  so  Jreat  that 
he  would  almost  rather  die  than  live.  He  would  like  to 
relieve  his  heart  by  telling  his  suspicions  to  some  one, 
but  they  are  as  yet  only  suspicions,  and  he  must  hold 
his  tongue. 

AU  of  Hamlet's  suspicions  are  confirmed  in  the  pri- 
vate interview  with  the  ghost,  in  the  course  of  which 
he  IS  called  upon  to  "Revenge  his  foul  and  most  unnat- 

iJn  /l"  *'if-  J^'  '}'''y  «^^^"  °"*  *»>**  h»  ^»ther  was 
killed  by  the  sting  of  a  serpent  the  ghost  first  charac- 
tenzes  as  false.     Then  he  proceeds  to  reveal  the  truth 

"The  serpent  that  did  sUng  thj    father's  Ufe 
Now  wears  the  crown." 

(I.  V.  39-40.) 

At  once  Hamlet  bursts  out  with  «0  my  prophetic  soul," 
reveabng  for  the  first  time  in  the  play  that  he  has  sus- 
pected the  real  truth.  Then  follows  the  true  story  of 
the  crime.  As  the  king  was  sleeping  in  his  orchard 
(prden)  he  was  poisoned  by  his  brother,  Claudius,  who 
at  once  became  possessed  of  his  crown,  and,  in  less  than 
two  months,  of  his  queen : 

'H^^tJ^'^J'  sleeping,  by  a  brother's  hand 
Ut  Ufe,  of  crown,  of  queen,  at  once  dispatch'd  " 

(I.  V.  74-5.) 

This  revelation  and  injunction  assign  to  Hamlet  his 
task.  In  a  word,  he  is  to  revenge  his  father's  murder, 
committed  by  his  uncle  who  now  wears  the  crown  of 


60 


^      I. 


»^^t,  an  Ideal  Prince 


•*'»«»  BanZt  °j"  P""'"'-  ">""  «  little  rf,ff 
S^nT.r  ^"^  ?"*  ^teL'^Sic  character  th 

"crude,  coarse,  reven  J?  ,   ^"^'^  »'  Beliefor^.?"" 

**■">   ^urder^r.^rgf^shT"''"'"''.  ""d  b  o^ 
t™«ic  poBsibilit,.,  „*  ,k     .  Shakespeare   «a.nJ?^ 

".d  n,i„ed,  ana':h,lta^;«^^- ;;^.eh  <'"'cfd;rati^: 
Shakespeare',  HamUt  S^.     .   '  '"""'  """looked 

"The  Relations  of  #/     ,  "^  Cause  ario-ht  Tr,  +1 

*'PiS».    Bortoii.1910. 


Hamlet 


61 


unsatisfied."  (V  ii.  326-7.)  He  suggests  that  he  wiU 
bear  a  wounded  name"  unless  Horatio  shall  be  at 
pains  to  tell  his  story. 

The  Werder  theory  is  no  doubt  correct  in  maintain- 
ing that  Hamlet  not  only  wishes  to  be  able  to  justify 
himself  to  his  own  conscience,  but  likewise  before  the 
people  at  large.  He  must  so  carry  out  his  revenge  that 
he  wiU  appear  not  as  a  vulgar  regicide,  but  as  a  moral 
and  patriotic  avenger.  He  wishes,  Werder  says,  to 
convince  the  people  before  the  deed,  and  have  the  king 
brought  to  public  confession  and  justice.  Shakespeare 
had  just  shown  in  Jvlms  Cctsar,  written  shortly  before 
Haml^U  that  a  deed  of  killing  even  for  public  reasons 
cannot  we  1  be  justified  after  it  is  committed.  Better 
far  to  justify  such  an  act  and  show  its  moral  necessity 
before  it  is  undertaken.  '' 

Hamlet  must,  therefore,  act  not  rashly  or  vindic- 
tively, but  with  due  deliberation,  and  with  the  larger  in- 
terests always  m  mind.     To  "revenge"  the  death  of 
his  father,  in  the  complicated  conditions   of  Shake- 
speare 8  play,  13  not  the  simple  matter  the  older  theories 
of  ^amZ^/  seemed  to  think.    It  is  a  sufficiently  difficult 
and  dehcate  task  to  execute  vengeance  upon  a  kinjr  in 
any  case,  but  as  Shakespeare  has  conceived  his  plot,  it 
will  require  all  the  wisdom  of  his  young  scholar  from 
the  university.    It  will  be  necessary,  moreover,  to  pro- 
ceed with  very  great  caution  and  absolute  secrecy  for 
a  time.     He  therefore  keeps  the  matter  of  the  ghost's 
revelations  strictly  to  himself  and  binds  his  friends  who 
had  seen  the  ghost  to  "never  make  known  what  you  have 
seen  to-night."     (I.  v.  143.)    He  must  quietly  gathir 
whatever  further  evidence  is   available,  and  he  must 
have  time  to  mature  and  perfect  his  plan  of  revenge. 
He  must  at  the  same  time  dispossess  his  uncle's  mind  of 


6« 


mm. 


^»ndet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


-«rd  attempted"  .';^';f*^-v.l  ""•  «  uf^to,  .fc 

J-volve  hi.  countrym„^' hi ;'  ^^U'^'-^'t.  he  wiu"  oi 
»«nie  t,me  prevent  ci„l  ,.,"*?  ""  "l'."*  «nd  nt  the 

f»  like  the  «?o.tT^!?i'"'»  h'  «t.ru.np-' 

de.troycr  of  hi?  count^.^""^'  *^«°d«  ««I  .ot^. 

H«mlet  doe.  not  like  th.  ..  i.    . 
fV^'fp.    But  «  .  Ztm  ^„  »' "«W  and  frankly 

"-w  1-fe    It  i,  „„  ^  3  't  even  «t  the  cMt  of  hi, 
"urrounded  with  aU  th.-'L       *"  '"  »««<^k  one  wLT. 

w  «  he  ,ay.  by  divinity  T^ril  '"  "  '^f''  hed  Jd 

hirehng..    The  t«k  i.   he«fo   '"'•°''"'''<'  ""^  »»  ""l^ 

■»tei.ect„.i^ehare;V2^^.°^tr''t  "'■^^^^ 
H.mUet:y„,i,  DUporition." 


^-  r-!i. 


Hamlet 


65 


and  disconcert  the  king  and  his  attendants.  His 
avowed  intention  to  act  "strange  or  odd"  and  to  "put 
an  antic  disposition  on"  '  (I.  v.  170,  172)  is  not  the 
only  indication.  The  latter  phrase,  which  is  of  doubt- 
ful interpretation,  should  be  taken  in  its  context  and  in 
connection  with  his  other  remarks  that  bear  on  the 
same  question.  To  his  old  friend,  Guildenstem,  he  in- 
timates that  "his  uncle-father  and  aunt-mother  are  de- 
ceived," and  that  he  is  only  "mad  north-north-west." 
(II.  ii.  360.)  But  the  intimation  seems  to  mean  noth- 
ing to  the  dull  ears  of  his  old  school-fellow.  His  only 
comment  is  given  later  when  he  advises  that  Hamlet's 
is  "a  crafty  madness."     (III.  i.  8.) 

When  completing  with  Horatio  the  arrangements  for 
the  play,  and  just  before  the  entrance  of  the  court 
party,  Hamlet  says,  "I  must  be  idle."  (III.  ii.  86.) 
This  evidently  is  a  declaration  of  his  intention  to  be 
"foolish,"  as  Schmidt  has  explained  the  word.^  Then 
to  his  mother  in  the  Closet  Scene,  he  distinctly  refers 
to  the  belief  held  by  some  about  the  court  that  he  is 
mad,  and  assures  her  that  he  is  intentionally  acting 
the  part  of  madness  in  order  to  attain  his  object: 

"I   essentially   am  not   in   madness. 
But  mad  in  craft." 

(III.  iv.  187-8.) 

This  pretense  of  madness  Shakespeare  borrowed  from 
the  earlier  versions  of  the  story.  The  fact  that  he  has 
made  it  appear  like  real  madness  lu  many  critics  to-day 
only  goes  to  show  the  wideness  of  his  knowledge  and 
the  greatness  of  his  dramatic  skill. 

'Cf.  Romeo  and  Juliet  (I.  v.  54),  where  "antic  face"  means  a 
maslc,  and  also  Richard  II    (III.  ii.  169)   and  H»wry   VI   (IV. 

Be'rUn  ^5^**P*'*''*"^***<"^'  ^y  Alexander  Schmidt,  Srd  editioiv 


'^W^-d 


64 


if ,+"  ffl 


111 


^^rnUt,  an  Ideal  Prince 


there  are  troubled  with  1.       ^'  .''^'•'nien,  and  ., 
«"t  to  declare  him  w"""^/""'"'-    Po'omuJ V 
Ophe  ia  ha.  repell^  w' W      W    !^'""  ■*  *»  •«" 
the  fang  that  "y„„,  "'1,  ."«  therefore  renorla 

"cord,  the  v.ri„r.ta™  uV'  '""•'"  («•  «•  «).  « 

«ththe„ldgentfc™„fe.i^l''.  'J'™!.'*''  '''™^  tolin 

^Ss'^  "■"•"■-••  ^-  ^"'■ir:e:fs\^,?ryjf « 

Though  it  .uit,  the  fa-„^  ■  " 

pronouncement  of  Poloniu,  ^  ?"'P'"*  '"  ««Pt  thi. 

from  him  wh^  he  puts  on  tM         5"  '•^"'ohmen.  "Get 
™ply  that  he.under,t.„?  'J^'  """'""on"  (HI.  i  i? 
'u»«y.     He  soon  atutlVrl""'"''"''"^' 
-d.dc^t  indicate  mi^'nt'hu^rS,-^-  J 

-"Ut  it  serves  his  w'  Ir  j 

»«".  and  to  make  thtfcu::  J°  *='"*  <■*"  «  "»«i- 

by  sending  him  to  EnZ,d    T  X'-  «""'■■«  "d  of  hta, 

l??f '^"-Sr^lriLt^rr"^  for .« 

-»«t  enter  into  the  dep'Stf'wr«S^»t'-    '"' 

*""»  *nd  cannot 


Hamlet 


65 


understand  that  it  is  her  own  conduct  that  is  stranec 
and  incoherent. 

There  need  be  no  doubt,  then,  that  Hamlet's  mad- 
ness was  really  feigned.    He  saw  much  to  be  gained  by 
it,  and  to  this  end  he  did  many  things  that  the  persons 
of  the  drama  must  construe  as  madness.     His  avowed 
intention  was  to  throw  them  off  the  track.    To  under- 
stand the  madness  as  real  is  to  make  of  the  play  a  mad- 
house tragedy  that  could  have  no  meaning  for  the  very 
sane  Englishmen  for  whom  Shakespeare  wrote.    There 
is  dramatic  value  in  such  madness  as  Lear's,  for  the 
play  traces  the  causes  of  his  madness,  and  the  influences 
that  restore  him.     Lear's  madness  had  its  roots  in  his 
moral  and  spiritual  defects,  and  the  cure  was  his  moral 
regeneration.     But  no  such  dramatic  value  can  be  as- 
ugifed  fo  Hamlet's  madness.     Shakespeare  never  makes 
of  his  dramas  mere  exhibitions  of  human  experience, 
wise  or  otherwise,  but  they  are  all  studies  in  the  spir- 
itual life  of  man.     His  dramas  are  always  elaborate 
attempts  to  get  a  meaning  out  of  life,  not  attempts  to 
show  either  its  mystery,  or  its  inconsequence,  or  its 
madness.     If  Hamlet  were  thought  of  as  truly  mad, 
then  his  entrances  and  his  exits  could  convey  no  mean- 
ing to  sane  persons,  except  the  lesson  to  avoid  insan- 
ity.   But  it  needs  no  drama  to  teach  that.* 

HandeVt  Humor. 

One  of  the  most  outstanding  characteristics  of  Ham- 
let is  his  subtle  and  persistent  humor.  It  crops  out 
at  every  turn,  and  indicates  the  essential  soundness 
of  his  mind.  Madness  does  not  lie  this  way.  Though 
his  troubles  were  sufficient  and  his  task  difficult  enough 

„^  ^f-^^^'^l*§^>e«»P«are  Commentaries,  Tragedies,  chapters  on 
HamUt,  pp.  986  ff.    St.  Louis,  1887. 


06 


HamUt,  an  Ideal  Prince 


both  it.  comple^ty  r„dl?-*'"'P  °?  *^«  "'t^^tion 

?"nd  more  capaWe  of  seeW  fr"^^>^*"^^'  •"d  « 
wg».  *^  ''*^'"«  **»'"«:>  in  all  their  beai 

leii'  I'^^'TCra  i:  r  ""'^'  ^^^  -p-i 

cum«tance8  his  irrim   .Jh  f r     •    ?"'*  ""*^«'  »"  cir 

the  balance  of  hfs  ™i„d      /''^f  *=  ^^^fo'  holds  evenlj 

moments  of  hi,  earner  he  haVthT  °^-.*^'  """^  ^'^P" 

hi8  tormentors  and  with  the  "d.  """^l^  *°  P^*^  '^^J' 

As  Sir  Herbert  Tree  has   ~      J?"^'*\°"«  of  his  life. 

humor  he  should  go  mad     slnT  ^-^  u"*^**"     "»»*  ^or 

The  same  eminent  Til'        "'*^  "  humor."  » 
of  humor  is  iC^^lt  in  ^^^^^^^^^^^  "^'^^he  qualit, 

yet  more  important  in  tra^v      u  'i ''^"*"'«  *«  ««/. 
t-gedy  of  life  or  in  theTaL:':?rh '\.'^  '"  *^^ 
VVith  reference  to  this  elem^nf    z?^         *"®  theatre."  2 
^am/.,  Sir  HerberrTree  3^*  °^  ^T^  *^^  P^*^  "^ 
•tance,  the  firmament  of  tra^dv  i«     ^^/'  '°''  »" 
the  jewels  of  humor  with  w&>'.™ff*  "*<^ker  bj 

The  first  words  Hamlet  sigis  for  h  "      '"^T^'  '  ' 
of  a  pun:  "s""  'orth  are  m  the  nature 

'A  little  more  than  Irtn   .>j  • 
«T1,«  L-  "  ">*n  kin.  wd  les.  than  kind.' 

liie  king  proceeds;   «How  U  .t  tk  x  xl 
hang  on  you?'   -Not  so,  mv  lorl  T      *^'  *^^°"^«  «till 
the  sun,'  says  Hamlet,  toying  ^it'  '•  T  *°°  """^h  in 

fecture  by  the  dis- 


/6«.,  p.  S4a. 


Hamlet 


67 


Horatio. 
UcmUt. 

Horatio. 
Hamltt. 


verbiage,  gives  way  to  humor.  Then  he  proceeds  to 
think  too  precisely  on  the  event.  But  tzr  his  humor 
Hamlet  would  have  killed  the  king  in  the  first  act."  ^ 
In  nearly  all  his  references  to  the  condition  of  af- 
fairs in  Denmark,  Hamlet  indulges  in  a  grim,  satirical 
humor.  His  first  meeting  with  Horatio  furnishes  op- 
portunity. Directly  after  the  warm  greetings  between 
the  friends  the  following  conversation  takes  place: 

Hamltt.    But  what  is  your  affair  in  Blsinore?  .  .  . 

My  lord,  I  came  to  see  your  father's  funeral. 
I  pray  thee,  do  not  mock  me,  fellow-student; 
I  think  it  was  to  see  my  mother's  wedding. 
Indeed,  my  lord,  it  follow'd  hard  upon. 
Thrift,   thrift,   Horatio!   the   funeral   baked-meats 
Did  coldly  furnish  forth  the  marriage  tables. 

(I.  U.  174-180.) 

Again,  when  Hamlet  is  swearing  his  friends  to  secrecy 
concerning  the  ghost,  they  hear  the  voice  of  the  ghost 
beneath,  saying,  "Swear,'*  and  Hamlet  remarks: 

**Ah,  ha,  boy  I  say'st  thou  so?  art  there,  true-penny — 
Come  on;  you  hear  this  fellow  in  the  cellarage; 
Consent  to  swear." 

When,  after  shifting  their  ground,  the  ghost's  voice  is 
again  heard,  saying,. "Swear,"  Hamlet  says: 

"Well  said,  old  mole!  canst  work  V  the  earth  so  fast? 
A  worthy  plonerP' 

(I.  V.  148-163) 

After  his  play.  The  Mouse-trap,  Hamlet  feels  so 
elated  at  the  turn  of  events  and  his  success  in  getting 
evidence  of  the  king's  guilt  that  he  playfully  suggests 
to  Horatio  that  if  all  else  failed  him  he  might  make  a 
success  of  playing  and  get  a  share  in  a  company : 

Hamlet.    Would  not  this,  sir,  and  a  forest  of  feathers, — if  the 
rest  of  my   fortunes  turn  Turk  with  me, — with  two  Provincial 

•"Humor  in  Tragedy,"  p.  366. 


««mUt,  an  Ueal  Prince 

(III-  II.  MS^WS). 

•ft.r  Ophelia wi.rd^:,J^J"t  bo™.  «.e.»*Vhe„ 

h.»«>».  my  lord,"  he  fall,  to  r^S?    **'  '•"  '•**"  "  ""l 
"•ge,  and  ..j,  ,„  j,*;.';'  'o  «''■■>«  on  women  and  mar- 

(in.  i.  i4».9.^ 

to  «t:!,''hL:'S.'^;™j"'2  «Pi«  that  the  king  „„,,. 
banter.  He  SMm.  to  tak^  *f'  '."  """=''  """nor  and 
»«  old  Polom„."4h\t  X.r'%'  ""«'"  '"  pC 

i«  a  «?"■"''*  <""■'%  --S'-  "Z"  I.  *".'"'  "»•  "^ 
«re  a  fishmonger."    Then   .it     ,  ^eilent  weU;  yoi 

t"  of  the  .a^e  .ort    i„  '  '   "  Z""^"  ««tiricani^" 

"hat  he  i,  readin  ~h  -.LUt^s"!  ""S'"""'*'  "'^'^ 
"tincal  rogue  say,  hewtL.  ®fe"*".  «>i  for  thi 
beards,  that   tbeir'/a«r„f  «4;^—   bave   g„, 

^«Kieci  ...  and  that 


-.J..; 


Hamlet 


69 


they  have  a  plentiful  lack  of  wit,  together  with  most 
weak  hams.  .  .  ."  (II.  ii.  178-199). 

Again,  on  the  occasion  when  Poloniiis  comes  to  sum- 
mon him  to  the  qucen*s  presence,  Hamlet  pokes  fun  at 
the  old  fellow,  making  him  say  that  "yonder  cloud," 
first,  is  "like  a  camel,"  then,  "like  a  weasel,"  and, 
finally,  "like  a  whale."  (III.  ii.  869-866.)  No  won- 
der Folonius  does  not  know  what  to  make  of  him  and 
calls  him  mad,  though  recognizing  the  possibility  that 
there  may  be  some  "method  in*t." 

Another  aspect  of  Hamlet's  humor  glints  forth  in 
his  dealings  with  his  old  school-fellows,  Rosencrantz 
and  Guildenstern.  When  these  unconscionable  spies 
come  to  him  to  inquire  what  he  had  done  with  the 
dead  body  of  Folonius,  he  first  answers :  "Compounded 
it  with  dust,  whereto  *t  is  kin."  Then  he  suggests  that 
Rosencrantz  is  only  "a  sponge  .  .  .  that  soaks  up 
the  king's  countenance,  his  rewards,  his  authorities. 
.  .  .  When  he  needs  what  you  have  gleaned,  it  is  but 
squeezing  you,  and,  sponge,  you  shall  be  dry  again." 
(IV.  ii.) 

With  Osric  he  gives  way  to  a  bantering  and  jeering 
humor  very  similar  to  that  with  Folonius.  He  first 
calls  him  a  "water-fly,"  then  "a  chough  .  .  .  spacious 
in  the  possession  of  dirt."  When  Osric  says,  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  not  keeping  his  hat  on  his  head,  that  "  'tis 
very  hot,"  Hamlet  makes  him  say  that  on  the  contrary, 
"It  is  indifferent  cold,  my  lord,  indeed,"  and  the  next 
moment  again  that  "it  is  very  sultry  and  hot." 
(V.  ii.  83-99.) 

In  the  graveyard  scene  with  the  clowns  Hamlet  in- 
dulges freely  in  a  grim  and  melancholy  humor.  On 
the  first  skull  he  says :  "It  might  be  the  pate  of  a  poli- 
tician .  .  .  one  that  would  circumvent  God,  might  it 


jlfi' 


ft"-^  fi  f 


JO 


^^ntlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


not?**     On  thi» 

J^"  qu.ddit.  now.  hi.  qu  ,]e  L*  ^*''^"^.  ^*»^'«  »> 
•nd  h..  trick.?  Whv  dJpir  ^'"  ^«-^'».  hi.  tcnum 
no'^  to  knock  hi,„  ab^JT  ^"^  ""^*"'-  t^i.  rude  knav 
and  wiJi  not  i^U  ul^VuuZ^tL^^^^^^^ 
Jonck'.  .kull  he  .avg  with  n„?k  "  °^  batterer  Of 
"Aia.,  poor  Yorick  V-J  kn  ^  hill'  *"^  tra^c  humor 

of  infinite  jc.t,  of  „.o«texoeiren^7;  "T^^'  '^  ^^''^^^ 
•^ul  he  .aj..:  "vVhere  »^  your  ir"^*  ^*'^"  *»  th. 
*>o^«'?  your  .ong,?  your  Z.C  F^'  "^^'"^  y^^^  g^,. 
l-^l  to  set  the  tZ  on  a  r„     r'r^"'» '^'^^^^^^^^ 

,  ?*»  into  a  sweet  irony  of  h.m.  •  ^'^^^  "*)'»»  "he 
.erjeant  death.'  'The  ^re^t  ^^Jn''  T''^^  *^^  ''^•^ 
of  f  ^*"'  '"  ^"^<"-'.  minor  kevu  ^""•''^^  «"ds 
of  trag^jr  with  a  yengeancT     P^'    S"'>  ^^^  ^umor 

Hamlet.  CdtS^~^  beyond  doubt 

£?od  a  judge  of  character  ^*n^  Shakespeare  wa.   too 
^jngle  .uch  humor  with  ^adn,;.^  °(,^r*"  "**"''-  *« 

the  sardonic.  Speaking  of  the  ki„'°V^  PMuI  to 
w  c«u.tic  and  .atirical  To  p„I  ^'  "'"*'"  '•"'"°'' 
-P'ej  he  1.  pla3.fuj  ,„d  eontemnt .?'"'  "r"^  *^^  "'^er 
jard  over  the  skull,  he  j.  .   "JP'V"""-     In  the  graye- 

and  thoughtful.     This  unfanL  I    ""  *^'^^  ^^  i.  sane 
^fe'.  comedies  and  trlj^  :  ^  T"'  ^^'^^  *°^»  -i« 
madness,   but  from  saS^ty  and  .  1/       "°*  ^'»™^  f'om 
•hould  make  certain  the  Tea?  l^f  P°^^^"''«"-     Thi. 
« "Humor  ,n  Tragedy."  p.  J,  "'''  *"  ^^«  ««  the 


Hamiet 

Iffcat  fertility  of  Hainlrt*R  mind. 
nc8g  do  not  travel  the  »ame  road. 


Humor  and  mad- 


"HamUt'a  Traru formation." 

The  Hamlet  that  appeam  in  the  drama  iit  not  the 
flamlct  with  whom  the  other  rhnracterM  of  the  play  are 
familiar.  Up  to  the  ofK'ning  of  the  play  there  had 
been  apparently  nothing  about  him  to  mark  hini  off 
from  his  friends  and  companions.  He  had  r '>>v,i  Mp 
with  no  noticeable  qualities  or  pcculiariti»»  ,  mi  had 
nnd  no  other  plan  of  life  than  that  which  ynuii;;^'  [>,  iiui 
generally  pursue.  He  had  been  at  collf^r<  nr  qu  .a  j.^ 
the  education  and  culture  proper  to  hi  j!  "'c  iu  h> 
He  appears  to  have  grown  up  to  the  s^nn^?*.  of  a 
noble  young  manhood  as  the  leader  .f  a  ..rju'i  o' 
friends,  all  of  whom  esteemed  him  highlv.  >i..  xv;  %  j. 
good  friend,  a  devoted  son,  a  most  popular  jjrin.  v.  arc! 
was  not  moved  by  any  great  ambitions,  no-  .  ,ny 
designs  against  any  one. 

But  when  he  first  appears  on  the  stage  in  the  royal 
presence  (I.  ii),  he  is  marked  as  a  melancholy  man. 
His  mother  remonstrates  with  him  for  going  about  with 
his  eyes  downcast,  and  for  being  morose  and  sad.  His 
mother  even  requests  him  to  leave  off  his  mourning  gar- 
ments, his  "inky  cloak"  as  he  calls  it,  and  accuses  him 
of  mourning  over-much  for  his  father.  The  king,  too, 
tries  to  draw  him  away  from  his  sorrows,  by  remind- 
ing him  that  he  is  not  the  first  to  lose  a  father,  saying, 
"your  father  lost  a  father."  Then  he  thinks  to  console 
him  by  suggesting  that  he  will  himself  be  a  father  to 
him,  and  that  he  is  next  heir  to  the  throne.  The  king 
denies  his  request,  however,  to  return  to  the  university, 
and  says  that  instead  they  will  have  plentiful  festivities 
in  Denmark.     At  a  later  time  he  speaks  of  the  great 


Tl 


^«^^  an  Ideal  Prince 


T\"  ^«ere  is  any 

death  of  his  father^  -««e.  t.e 

T^V^"^^^^^^^^^  ^"-  -  due  not  so 

father's  death,  as  to  the  su«nf-  ""'-^^<=*«iness   of  h'° 
kje'^  that  the  kin/had  sST  f/'^""'«t«"ces.    H 
''Jen  he  secured  his  own  fm!?^"  !"'  "precious  diadenT" 
o'Demnark,  but  he  sleJt'  '"  •'  '^^^*'"°"  *«  *^e  crown 
o".    He  knew  also  thTtlhl  *"'''*  ^'^''^  ^'*"«  over  w" 
'n  the  „,arriage  of  the  kin^nTl.'^"  "— ^^  h«sto 
fleeted  somewhat  upon  her  h^„  ^  ^i\  "^"^^'^  th«t  re- 
^r»  that  the  deafh  of  his  ?°r-     ^^^"  »>-  had  susp^- 
«'ven  out,  but  that  ther.  I    ^^''  ^'^^  "°*  *«  it  wa, 
uncle's  part      Thl  •  I      .   '^^  «ome  foul  nlav  nr^\^ 

change  w.,  chiefly  a  .ab  e^^!  "  ^"""S  «wnt..    This 
t'on,  which  he  tri^  to  "*"'  f"''  """■»'  t«n.fon„a 
l""*-     The  gho.t  had  calW^"''  t^"^"y  '™-™h' 
""■rder,  and  he  had  defiS  dL"  "j";  *"  "'^"S'  the 
«fe.t  t«,k.    He  h«l  ZSl^"";^"'  '"""■«■"  t°  that 


s^^s^ 


HamUt 


78 


noticed  it  when  he  next  visited  her  and  spoke  of  it  to 
her  father.  He  had  been  accustomed  to  such  a  scrupu- 
lous neatness  in  dress  and  courtliness  of  manner  that 
she  later  spoke  of  him  as  "The  gla:  .  of  fashion,  and 
the  mould  of  form."  (III.  i.  168.)  But  now  all  this 
had  disappeared,  and  he  grew  careless  about  his  ap- 
parel, and  even  came  to  her  in  loote  attire,  and  pain- 
fully nervous : 

"Pale  as  his  shirt t  his  knees  knocking  eadi  other; 
And  with  a  look  so  piteous  in  purport 
As  if  he  had  been  loosed  out  of  bell 
To  speak  ot  horrors." 

(II.  i.  81-84.) 

To  this  ofFence  he  added  the  apparent  rudeness  of 
staring  her  in  the  face  for  some  time,  and  then  went 
out  of  the  door  keeping  his  eye  upon  her  to  the  last. 
Hamlet  was  evidently  testing  her  to  see  if  she  was  likely 
to  be  true  to  him  in  the  new  task  the  ghost  had  assigned 
him. 

This  visit  of  the  ghost,  then,  marked  the  adoption  of 
his  new  purpose,  and  changed  the  whole  trend  of  his 
life.  Henceforth,  the  revenge  becomes  his  one  all-ab- 
sorbing aim.  His  conception  of  duty  hereafter  rules, 
and  he  makes  everything  else  subservient.  His  whole 
life  is  now  to  be  devoted  to  his  filial  duty.  This  great 
change  in  his  life  the  dramatist  has  portrayed  fully  for 
his  audience  that  they  may  be  impressed  with  the  effect 
of  the  ghost's  visit  upon  the  mind  of  Hamlet,  and  that 
they  may  realize  its  importance  in  the  development  of 
both  plot  and  character. 

HamUVi  Melancholy. 

From  the  opening  of  the  play  Hamlet  has  been 
marked  as  a  melancholy  man.    Apparei.lly  this  had  not 


l^^S^^^ 


ffamUt,  an  Ideal  Prince 

the  thing,  that  h«|  h^A^i   « "/ft""^  ''««'''«'  •>, 
harbored  constituted  .  dS'.?  n  ""'  '"»Pi"<>n>  ho 
'«th.     If  the  truth  wLT^t  f  ""<■"««  to  hi,  moral 
occasion  to  question  The  riir"^*  *^"  "•'"'  "«» 
the  world,  and  to  wonder  1/7^'''"'"'  ."<*  >«"«  »/ 
apparently,  was  HaS.  firsT?  "'°''"""'"«-    This, 
trouble,  with  the  8hn™  an'/"'  ™™"»'"  *ith  great 
tune   and  it  proved  a*!t^at  WaM  "'."""'•''S^ou'  for- 
When  the  first  of  thCdi nil  °  '"'  "'"'"  "'ture. 
Hamlet  was  at  fhe  unive^sUv  "i  *  '""''  ''<^™"«'- 
not  arrive  in  Denmark  uSttv  hi J'T"""-"  '"'  d^ 
The  first  of  these  was  th.      jj^     .''  ""  ™nie  to  pass 
cpused  as  it  wa'Xn  out  bv        '"'^'^  "'  *'»  'atw; 
circumstances  werfsu"p™ou,  aV"*^!:'!.'  '""«•     The 

"  the  new  ^^ ^^'^Xltl.t^^Z  "  ^""«'- 
Denmark.     The  o-rppf  r.       P^'P^^  Hamlet  cou  d  reach 

great  love  the  peT;fe  Ch^''^  <"  Hamlet  and  ^he 
by  him,  and  would'^cause  ht,  to":!;-  tl^^'"  '"■<"'" 
tnckedhiminthemattro?  he*e°e It  '"'  """^  '"»<' 

to  Stcle'ct.uTuf  ;Sr  .''"  -^^^       —age 

of  as   their  "o'erhit^ttrt '"^''t^''^-^ 'P"^ 
seemed  so  improper,  and  f«l    ^j       ^°  ^»»n^et   this 

funeral  of  his Vher  that  }^Zt  l'    'j,"'  "^^  ^'^^^ 
as  due  to  "*^  sarcastically  spoke  of  it 


Hamlet  76 

"Thrift,  thrift,  Horatio!  the  funeral  baked-meat> 
Did  coldly  furnish  forth  the  nnrriaae  tables.- 

(I.  Ti.  180-1.) 

Tliese  events  had  all  occurred  before  the  opening  of 
the  play,  for  when  his  uncle  and  mother  appear  on  the 
stage  for  the  first  time  (I.  ii.)  they  are  already  king 
and  queen.  Hamlet,  then,  confronts  these  as  accom- 
plished facts,  and  his  mind  is  troubled.  The  suspected 
villainy  of  his  father's  sudden  death  caused  him  great 
worry.  He  was  not  much  concerned  about  losing  the 
crown.  But  he  was  stirred  to  the  depths  of  his  moral 
nature  by  what  he  regarded  as  his  mother's  incestuous 
Hid  o'erhasty  marriage. 

Added  to  these  was  the  further  fact  that  under  the 
rule  of  Claudius  his  beloved  Denmark  was  degenerating 
and  being  given  over  to  corruption  and  to  pleasure. 
Everything  seemed  to  him  to  have  gone  wrong.  His 
father  is  dead,  his  mother  dishonored,  and  his  country 
disgraced  and  weakened. 

Under  these  conditions  it  is  little  wonder  that  he  be- 
came melancholy,  and  was  in  doubt  whether  or  not  it 
was  worth  while  to  live.  All  he  was  chiefly  interested 
in  had  failed.  The  men  who  were  left  did  not  interest 
him  nor  the  women  either.  He  was  thrown  cruelly 
back  upon  himself,  and  obliged  to  weigh  everything 
anew.  His  confidence  in  the  moral  government  of  the 
world  was  shaken,  and  his  moral  faith  was  shattered. 
Everything  that  was  most  dear  to  him  had  apparently 
been  forsaken  of  heaven,  and  he  was  left  to  struggle  on 
alone.  Under  these  adverse  circumstances  he  wishes 
he  were  dead,  and  exclaims  against  the  world : 

"How  weary,  stale,  flat  and  unprofltable 
Seem  to  me  all  the  uses  of  this  world  T' 

(I.  U.  13S-4.) 


76 


ffanUet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


m., 


choTy  .V  the  phHoZhil  /"^^  "  '■'  "■'  -'"- 

evil,  into  the  mid.tTf  wh    u"^'  ""''  '"  '"'''«^  ^y  «"■ 
plunged.    The  c«,l,  J;  ^  \"  ^"""-f  '"''  "  '"^^oU 

God  .„d  in  «»od„t,\;d\^;;Ke"rJtK'-  ■" 

The  greatnew  of  his  mind  ."a  k  ?*^  ''"'''  •""'■ 
ihr  f.ct  that  he  .oon  re™ve„  f^  "f hT'?  ".  '""  '" 
»nd  holding  hi.  faith  ir.k       u°     ""  ""'  "•"'•''  "'""•I'. 

--Kl  right,  reon'ddoT  that  "  nrlfr^t"'  """' 
'■    10  to  good."  a  ii  lissT  V  •'        '*  *'*""°* 

h...,8elf  tffaJI  into  the  !lo.    h   77  ''*'*'"  ^^^  ^^  '*"«'» 
^««/«'f  a  National  Hero 

With  the  retZn  o7foH-  .■""«  ^  '""  "'  "«■  """(f- 
the  "background. fl„!°r  '"*"■""  ""•-«♦'"'"».  «nd  on 

of  caudiu*  hLlndu?^ :  zTr:'  r't'  ""•  """ 

tic  national  undertaking,      ir  '"'*"'  K"*""" 

to  the  phv,ic«I  labor  of^L    1       ""'  ""'  "^"""l  raerelv 
t«.k  of'^lh^e  re'to^  o?  r  iJhte""*"'"'  ""*  '"  *•"  "•"« 

of  the  -.urdererT^^d^ed'* ttrrrve!?  't  ""'  "' 
«ssa»8in,  but  to  "revemre"  »1,I  J  T  ?  .  eommon 
called  for  wisdom  and  Uct  oftl  V  ?'  ""  '"''^  """S 
well  knew  that  he  could  ™f        "",'!■'?''"'  order.     Ho 

Unlike  Fortin'^r.;  and  Laert^  i""^  "l''  ''-«'•  Wood, 
dietivene,,,  and  could  not  t  .atifflTr  "'"'  "".*  "'- 
«uHty  king  on  an  innocent  nation  ^'^  ""'  "'"«'»«  " 

would  have7™:tr^ati'  l^'a^e?- I^",  '^l^-.-d 


Hamlet 


77 


king  wa«  beginning  to  have  a  wholesome  fear  of  Ham- 
let, and  seemed  to  live  in  dread  lest  he  should  raise  up 
an  open  rebellion  against  him.  He  thought  himself 
of  bringing  the  issue  with  Hamlet  to  public  accounting, 
but  he  was  afraid  of  Hamlet's  popularity,  as  he  later 
admits  to  Laertes, 

"Why  to  a  public  count  I  miffht  not  go. 
Is  the  great  love  the  general  gender  bear  him." 

(IV.  vil.  17-18.) 

Nothing  would  have  been  easier  than  for  Hamlet  to 
make  it  a  public  issue.  U  it  was  easy  for  Laertes  at  a 
later  time  to  raise  up  a  band  against  the  king  whom  he 
thought  had  killed  his  father,  it  would  have  been  doubly 
easy  now  for  Hamlet,  who  according  to  Claudius  him- 
self was  "loved  of  the  distracted  multitude.'*  But  this 
was  the  very  thing  Hamlet  wished  to  avoid.  He  sees 
his  nation  already  preparing  to  resist  the  threatened 
attack  from  Norway,  and  with  heroic  self-restraint  and 
true  patriotism  he  refrains  from  anything  that  might 
encourage  the  enemy.  He  is  conmiissioned  rather  to 
save  his  country,  as  well  from  foreign  aggression,  as 
from  the  internal  corruption  that  threatens  its  very  ex- 
istence. The  case  is  desperate  and  the  task  difficult, 
and  he  would  gladly  pursue  a  more  tranquil  career. 
But  he  rises  to  the  necessity,  howsoev*  r  reluctantly,  and 
steadfastly  pursues  his  appointed  task. 

In  all  this  Hamlet  remembers  the  warning  of  the 
ghost  not  to  taint  his  mind.  He  obeys  the  injunction 
to  keep  a  clear  conscience,  and  not  make  himself  a 
worse  criminal  in  revenging  the  crime  of  his  uncle. 
This  marks  the  higher  purpose  and  superior  nobleness 
of  character  that  Shakespeare  ha.i  put  into  his  Hamlet, 
thereby  raising  the  tone  of  his  play  above  all  other 
versions  of  the  story.    The  spirit  of  some  other  versions 


in 
I' 


7$ 


il' 


HarnUi,  on  Ideal  Prince 


must   deliver   DenmRrl  T  ''",J***»^'»  ^»»'c»^  mean,  he 

Hamlet  a  Man  of  Peace. 

In  Hamlet,  then,  Shakespeare  has  uortra*^  .  f  j 

irom  attack,  the  younger  Hamlet  would  do  nothing 
that  would  bring  about  a  civil  war  in  Denmark  or  ihaf 
would  invite  an  invasion  from  Fortinbras      Thl.  I 
'Fumes,'.  t^nsUtion.  Variorum  ^^1",     p.  1«        ^"""^ 


Hamlet 


79 


prince  was  of  a  different  stripe,  and  waged  wars  for 
ambition.    As  his  captain  expressed  it : 

"We  go  to  min  a  little  patch  of  ground 
That  hath  In  it  no  profit  but  the  name." 

(IV.  iv.  18-19.) 

This  was  the  old  type  of  hero,  who  like  the  Roman  gen- 
erals laid  other  nations  under  tribute  and  brought 
many  captives  home  to  Rome.  This  old  nationalism 
was  aggressive  and  ruthless,  and  gloried  in  subjugating 
other  peoples  to  its  rule. 

But  Shakespeare  had  a  vision  of  a  new  type  of  hero 
and  of  a  new  nationalism  of  peace.  In  the  elder  and 
younger  Hamlet  he  has  depicted  heroes  who  would  not 
force  war  upon  others,  and  who  would  consent  to  war 
only  to  hold  the  possessions  they  had  from  the  de- 
spoiler.  The  older  wars  had  been  the  quarrels  of  ambi- 
tious and  greedy  kings  who  had  not  hesitated  like  the 
elder  Fortinbras  to  dare  his  neighbors  to  combat  in  the 
hope  of  gaining  territory  or  tribute.  With  these  wars 
Shakespeare  was  entirely  out  of  sympathy,  as  so  many 
of  his  plays  give  evidence.  His  Henry  the  Fifth  will 
not  go  to  war  to  steal  from  France,  but  only  to  rescue 
those  provinces  which  are  assuredly  his  by  right. 

Shakespeare's  Hamlet,  then,  is  a  patriot  and  hero  of 
a  new  type,  who  aims  only  to  do  what  is  for  the  good 
of  his  country.  Werder,  therefore,  is  surely  right  when 
he  says  his  purpose  is  not  so  much  to  punish  Claudius 
as  to  bring  him  to  justice, — to  "revenge"  his  father's 
murder.  His  very  inaction,  wrongly  called  procrasti- 
nation, assumes  the  character  of  the  highest  self-re- 
straint and  patriotism.  His  one  fault  is  that  he  cannot 
always  completely  restrain  himself  in  the  face  of  such 
terrible  provocation,  and  he  occasionally  suffers  him- 
self to  act  rashly  and  without  due  deliberation. 


80 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


i 


I 


r^r^-T"*!"  ''r*  *n«wered  the  old  error  of  the 

and  swift  a^?-  '°    « '^'  ^'^  '"  ^"»**  ^•P»W*  ofin.Unt 

hV«       J  !      '  **1.^  P^*^^"  *>''°»«»'t  to  court  to  amuse 
hiin.  and  turns  them  to  good  account      When  h-  J^ 

covers  some  one  behind  thT  arri^Tw,  il^iew  ^th 

1"-  mother,  he  makes  i,  sudden  and  dar  WpisI  Sit 

.how.  h.m  not  only  capable  of  action  but  of  Ctu^^J 

and  instant  action.     Again,  on  shipboard  he  wovel 

himself  gallant  in  boarding  the  pirate  ship     And  in X 

last  encounter  of  the  play?  when^reacJery  a^d  viiaLy 

z  rtVn;^"'^'^^  '"^'^*^^^'  -*  -»^  ^-^- 

The  trouble  with  Hamlet  is  not  inability  to  act   but 
an  occasional  inability  to  restrain  himself  in  the  iiidit 

t/of  to  fnr^r*^""-    'i  ''  °"^^  »^"  determinSi  i^fi! 
all.     In  the  mam  he  has  most  admirable  self-control 
great  an   undertaking  as   the   revenge   of  his   father 

to™W  ht.  '°"""!/°"f ':^^"'  ^'  thf  times  he  n^' 
irder^not  f^  r-.  ^"l^"^  ^  *""  ^^^^  ^'  -trike.Tin 

Uitof  tl^a"  ^-  "^^  ^-"^^^-  —  ''  t^Tfl: 

IT 

TA^  King  and  Hamlet. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  play  Hamlet  has  been  « 
great  problem  and  perplexity  to  the  l^g  AVthTone 
living  person  most  grievously  injured  by  the  murder  of 


Hamlet 


81 


the  late  king,  the  guiltj  conscience  of  Claudius  compels 
him  to  keep  an  eye  on  Hamlet.  He  han  shown  such 
diabolical  cleverness  in  the  murder  of  his  brother  that 
at  first  he  has  little  fear  that  Hamlet  will  discover  the 
truth.  He  is  alarmed  at  his  melancholy,  and  the  first 
words  he  addresses  to  him  in  the  play  disclose  his  anx- 
iety: 

"But  now,  my  cousin  Hamlet,  and  my  son,  .  .  . 
How  is  it  that  tlie  douda  gtlll  hang  on  you?" 

(I.  il.  04,  M.) 

Assuming  that  his  sadness  all  comes  from  the  death  of 
his  father,  the  king  tries  to  reconcile  Hamlet  to  the 
death  by  reminding  him  that  "all  that  lives  must  die, 
Passing  through  nature  to  eternity."  (7«-8.)  Seeing 
he  cannot  divert  Hamlet's  mind  by  chiding  him,  he  then 
commends  him  for  mourning  for  his  father,  and  tries 
to  turn  his  mind  to  his  own  aff^airs  by  saying  to  him, 
"You  are  the  most  immediate  to  our  throne,"  and  de- 
nies his  request  to  return  to  Wittenberg,  begging  him, 

"to  remain 
Here,  in  the  cheer  and  comfort  of  our  eye. 
Our  chiefest  courtier,  cousin,  and  our  son." 

(I.  ii.  115-7.) 

This  feigned  solicitude  on  behalf  of  Hamlet,  the  king 
carries  out  very  adroitly,  and  succeeds  in  impressing  it 
upon  his  henchmen.  Rosencrantz  has  learned  it,  and 
at  a  later  time  gives  it  utterance.  When  he  tries  to 
draw  out  of  him  the  cause  of  his  distemper,  Hamlet 
replies:  "Sir,  I  lack  advancement."  Then  Rosen- 
crantz quickly  responds:  "How  can  that  be,  when 
you  have  the  voice  of  the  king  himself  for  your  succes- 
sion in  Denmark?"    (HI.  ii.  886-826.) 

All  this,  of  course,  fails  to  deceive  Hamlet,  who  is 
only  made  the  sadder  by  the  assurance  of  the  king's 


"•  Bamht.  an  IJ,al  Primet 

burden.  hi.  heart,  he  m>  no  w.y  out  of  hi<  lorraw. 
.nd  w..he.  lh.t  he  might  die.  With  no  jot  of  Z  'b-' 
H.mUt7  ;°  >•  "^  ''*  "•  •■»?«»"  pl.guiS^hh^ 
•pectly  ,n  aU  hi.  dealing,  with  the  king.  MoraUT  mT 
tain  of  the  king*.  guUt,  and  awured  of  hi.  depraTJd 
character,  he  break,  out  into  a  Jood  of  inquiri»  wh« 

Hnve  burst  their  cerements;  ...  ^ 

Say.  why  i.  thl.?  wher«foref  what  ihotUd  we  dor 

(I.  Ir.  4«-*T.) 

f hJ'T  r«  **^,"°  *^**"***  *^**  *'*«'  *h«  disclosure,  of 
the  ghost  Hamlet  wanted  to  kiU  the  king.  He  ev" 
dently  had  thw  a.  part  of  his  plan,  and  wis  awaiting 
only  the  proper  time.    He  not  onlj  conceived  it  a.  nS 

Horafio,       """"^  "  *  °''''*^  *'"*^-     ""  ***''  "^^  *« 

T«  «..u  ki     Jill**.??*  perfect  conscience 

To  ?^\mJ^  1*  *^  •"»'  ""^  *«'t  not  to  be  damnU 

(V.  U.  «7-Ta) 

He  wanted  to  kill  the  king,  and,  doubtless,  as  Bradley 
says,  "without  sacrificing  hi.  own  life  or  f reedom."  He 
did  not  want  to  leave  «a  wounded  name,"  but  a.  Werder 
thmks  he  hoped  to  make  it  appear  to' the  people  La 
right  and  proper  revenge  for  the  king's  crime.     And 

toi?d"  T  ""^^  °"^^.'^^  '"^^^  "^^^'^'^^  evidencfa, 
would  confirm  his  suspicions  and  a.  could  be  presented 
to  the  people.    Hamlet  had  no  desire  to  play  ^  part 


HomUt  88 

of  an  assaasin,  but  his  conception  of  duty  made  him 
willing  to  take  up  the  task  of  moral  avenger. 

The  first  step  in  the  confirmation  of  Hamlet*s  sus- 
picions was  the  disclosures  of  the  ghost.  This,  how- 
ever, did  not  fully  and  finally  convince  him,  for  he 
thought  he  might  be  deceived  and  the  spirit  he  had 
seen  might  be  an  evil  spirit  that  was  trying  to  lead  him 
to  destruction : 

"The  spirit  th«t  I  haw  seen 
Umj  be  the  devil;  and  the  devil  hath  power 
To  assume  a  pleasing  shape  t  yea,  and  perhaps 
Out  of  my  weakness  and  mj  melancholy. 
As  he  is  very  potent  with  such  spirits. 
Abuses  me  to  damn  me.** 

(II.  IL  6T44T9.) 

He  therefore  resolves  not  to  act  without  further  evi- 
dence, and  to  await,  as  he  says,  ^'grounds  More  rela- 
tive."   (U.  679-80.) 

For  some  time  no  means  of  obtaining  the  required 
evidence  was  at  hand.  Hamlet  therefore  had  nothing 
to  do  but  wait.  The  wished-for  opportunity  came  only 
with  the  advent  of  the  players.  He  had  failed  entirely 
to  obtain  any  objective  evidence  of  the  suspected  mur- 
der, but  he  at  once  saw  in  the  play  the  chance  to  secure 
some  real  evidence.  His  quick  wit  seized  upon  the  idea 
of  having  the  players  enact  a  scene  like  the  reported 
murder  of  his  father,  and  the  response  of  the  king  to 
this  play  would  reveal  beyond  doubt  his  guilt  or  inno- 
cence : 


i  PI 


"1*11  have  these  players 
Phnr  something  like  the  murder  of  my  father 
Before  mine  uncle;  I'll  observe  his  loou; 
111  tent  him  to  the  quick;  if  he  but  bleodi, 
I  know  my  course." 

(II.  IL  570-4.) 


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84 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


TA^  Polonius  Family 

tK^  L-       u   J  ,     .  beginning  there  is  evidence  fhAf 

ever  Polonius  desired  in  the  matter: 

'S^  f ^^^  '^  "***  "°™  na«ve  to  the  heart 
?hL  ^"i'"?^  *nst"'™ental  to  the  moutlT' 
Whil  '  *^!,  **""?"^  °^  Denmark  to  tS'  father 
What  wouldst  thou  have,  Laertes?"  ^ 

(I.  ii.  47-50.) 

hil^«p/°^''"'"'/T''*^  ^*'  *^^  '^•"ff  immediately  gives 
his  permission  for  Laertes  to  return  to  Paris 

On  his  part,  Polonius  is  at  the  king's  service   ,.n^  • 
prepared  to  go  any  length  to  please  him .-''  '"^  " 
"I  hold  my  duty   as  I  hold  my  soul. 
Both  to  my  God  and  to  my  gracious  kin^" 

(II.  ii.  44-5.) 
Just  what  assistance  he  had  rendered  thp  V;«„  •     a- 
posing  of  his  brother  and  securW  the  cro^ Vnl"" 
does  not  make  clear.     But  the  del  debt  t^  t'     ^  ^^ 
knowledges  to  Polonius  sugges^s'To'Jt^;'^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
and  valuable  service.     Hamlet  from  the  fir^t  knows  he 


Hamlet 


85 


IS  dishonest  and  untrustworthy.  When  Polonius  re- 
sents being  called  a  "fishmonger,"  Hamlet  says :  "Then 
I  would  you  were  so  honest  a  man."     (II.  ii.  175.) 

The  parting  scene  with  Laertes  discloses  the  subtle 
and  crafty  character  of  the  entire  Polonius  family,  and 
reveals  further  their  close  relation  to  the  royal  house- 
hold. Even  Laertes  appears  as  a  suspicious  and  not 
over-honorable  young  man.  His  parting  advice  to  his 
sister  shows  him  to  have  an  evil  mind,  and  exhibits  him 
as  crafty  and  "wise,"  but  not  generous  or  noble-minded. 
Ophelia  on  her  part  suspects  that  her  brother,  while 
exhorting  her  to  virtue,  himself  follows  pleasure : 

"But,  good  my  brother, 
Do  not,  as  some  ungracious  pastors  do, 

firuT  "f.,**'^  ****£  *"•*  **'°''"y  ''ay  to  heaven, 
Whiles,  bke  a  puflTd  and  reckless  libertine. 
Himself  the  primrose  path  of  dalliance  treads 
And  recks  not  his  own  rtde." 

(I.  iii.  46-51.) 

Polonius  himself  appears  exceedingly  sagacious  and 
cunning,  and  entirely  lacking  in  moral  principles.  He 
IS  perfectly  willing  to  do  any  bidding  of  the  king,  and 
18  only  a  crafty  old  time-server.  His  advice  to  hi« 
daughter  shows  him  very  politic  and  very  indelicate, 
but  entirely  lacking  in  the  larger  wisdom.  Opheli,. 
herself  is  a  tender-hearted  maiden,  but  her  rearing 
under  the  tuition  of  her  subtle  father  has  made  her 
weak  and  tractable.  This  scene  depicts  the  entire 
family  in  a  very  unfavorable  light,  that  is  not  sub^ 
stantially  changed  throughout  the  rest  of  the  play. 

Polonius  is  so  naturally  suspicious  and  crafty  that 
he  even  spies  upon  Laertes  in  Paris.  On  sending  Rey- 
naldo  to  him  with  money,  he  instructs  him  before  ho 
visits  Laertes  "to  make  inquiry  Of  his  behavior."     (II. 


■ ,  I 


86 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


evidence.     He  iZLlTlh-  ^"^'"""^  "  most  in 

up  her  lelterVfrorHlmirZ'/r'''''  ^'f'  *"  K'™ 
over  and  read  tiiemto  th?  t'  •  !  """^  '°''''  "'era 
can  find  anytliinrtn  ,r.  w  *  !"  "'■•'"  '»  ""'  «  they 
at  the  lin^serto^  I'h'^  ^  ""J"-  "'  "  '^o-Pletelv 
"What  doVou Thtk  ^?  ml^-Mh!  l""""'"'  ?'  ">'  ''■"'f' 
a  j>.an  fait^hful  and  hlnTabl  ^  dlTlkluol 
Polomus  IS  so  well  QAfJcfi^^      ml  i-  i58o-129.) 

W  that  he  a° rre/the  1  n^Te  J'.Tfi"?  "''"'■l^  "  " 
tory  of  Hamlet  without  dofbt  for  hi"  "V^'  "'y'" 
even  when  hid  in  the  ce„te'°ofth'e  t th'  ?'«    i  157  «'> 

is  h^furorh7dalMer''r'''r""''  *'»^.  ^o-er 
In  his  zeal  to  sem  theV-  '  t™/  '"  '""■*?  """kt- 
sacrifice  hi  dauThter  f  '^  ^\'''^'  ""'  ^"'^*^  *" 
"Jephthah '•     hT'"'   '<"■  ".'"'^h   Hamlet   calls   him 

time'^when  Ha^^tis'wX-  '".'^*^  >■-«  that  some 
quently  doe"  the„  "  "'"""«  '»  ">'  '"'"'y.  as  he  fre- 

"Be'  r  .na"?LZ.'r  .^L-ffi-ij-  - "- 

(II.  ii.  161-2.) 

Win  S*k"/"''  '"J'"^'^'  '^"'^"l  espials 
wc  may  of  their  encounter  frankfy  judge" 

(III.  i.  «-S4.) 


:^jiE 


Hamlet 


87 


In  the  interview  Hamlet  treats  Ophelia  most  hon- 
orably until  he  discovers  that  he  is  speaking  as  well 
to  ears  behind  the  arras.  Most  students,  and  especially 
the  actors,  are  conscious  of  deficient  stage  directions 
for  this  scene,  and  recognize  the  need  of  some  visible 
or  audible  move  upon  the  part  of  Polonius  or  the  king 
that  reveals  their  presence  to  Hamlet.^  At  once  the 
tone  of  Hamlet  changes,  and  he  turns  harshly  upon 
Ophelia,  and  takes  back  all  words  of  affection.  Then, 
apparently  thinking  she  may  not  realize  the  baseness 
of  her  treachery  and  thinking  to  give  her  one  more 
chance  to  disavow  her  part  in  it,  he  inquires,  "Where's 
your  father.'"'  When  she  replies,  "At  home,  my  lord," 
he  is  sure  not  only  that  she  is  a  party  to  the  spying 
but  that  she  is  also  untruthful.  Then  with  a  few 
harsh  words  he  leaves  her,  never  to  trust  her  again. 

It  is  Hamlet's  fate  to  be  concerned  in  the  death  of 
all  the  Polonius  family.  Ophelia,  discarded,  broods 
over  her  misfortune,  and  at  last  goes  distracted.  No 
doubt  the  sadness  and  disappointment  of  her  relations 
with  Hamlet  had  something  to  do  with  her  madness  and 
her  death.  Polonius  himself  pays  for  his  treachery 
with  his  life  the  next  time  he  attempts  to  spy  upon 
Hamlet  in  the  interview  with  the  queen.  Laertes  sur- 
vives until  induced  by  the  king  to  accept  the  duel  with 
Hamlet,  when  he  is  killed  with  the  poisoned  rapier 
he  had  treacherously  prepared  for  the  prince.  He 
lived  to  discover  the  insidious  designs  of  the  king  in 
arranging  the  duel,  and  to  repent  his  part  in  it.  He 
acknowledged  his  own  wrong-doing,  saying,  "I  am 
justly  kill'd  with  mine  own  treachery"  (V.  ii.  294),  and 
with  his  dying  words  absolved  Hamlet  from  all  blame 

^Cf.     SotM  Thoughtt  on  Hamlet,  by  H.  B.  Irving,  pp.  31-99, 
Sydney,  Australia.  1911. 


88 


ffamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


^ZX!;:^'''''''  -  h'^  own  death,  and  bcg^d 

Nor  mine  on  me !"         ""*  *''"~  "°*  "Pon  UiIm!. 

(V.  ii.  316^.) 

in  his' erv?c '' Weldt'  "'""^  '"*  ^^^«  ^P^We  spies 
mates  (II.  ii  m  and  T  "?'??, *^°  o^  Hamlet's  play- 
Guildensteri  (  iV.  fv  202)t;  f  T'  «— antz^n^^I 
remedy  Hamlet's  trouble  ^'  Pretending  to  be  anxious  to 
men,  °"^^'^'     ^e  instructs  these  young 

»gnt  to  us  unknown  afflicts  him  thus  " 
(II.  IJ.  15-17.) ' 

M^ntp]fe:T.:  1''?'  ?■;'  '"  '^"  ««-■-'  hope  that 

he  thintTt  tt  to  Sir  °'  "■"  T'''"'  'hou;!, 

these  old  friend,  of  Halli™  ""^  ™"'"»:^-    At  fi„t 

treachery  of  the  Hr.»       i""*^  ■""  have  knovn  the 

used  agai:    tL^Zi  ut^ll  ""'  ''"'^  '"'^'«'«'  "'^ 

wiUing  tools  of  r,^y  basenes^  they  Prove  themselves  the 

continued  to  do  the  kW.  k!?.- '"«  ?"  '''™«-    They 

made  it  very  apparent  tClh«  'i'!""  "»■"''*  had 

tors  to  hi,  ow?']nre«sL  "«"'^"'  *'"'"'  "  t™" 

theXettTTarfe^Vr '''*'r''"«*™- 
totrytodis.ovr?hemvstrrv  f^^^'  'hese  henchmen 
»  easily  more  than  a  £  'h^f     ^?""'*-    ^"^  Hamlet 

Po.onin.isle^vinrwit^-tfh-Q-ST^'jU-as 


Hamlet 


89 


tion,  but  not  in  time  to  hear  Hamlet's  remark,  "These 
tedious  old  fools."  They  are  received  very  cordially 
by  Hamlet,  and  greeted  by  him  as  "My  excellent  good 
friends,"  in  a  way  to  shame  them  of  their  mission,  if 
they  had  any  shame  in  them. 

The  fact  that  they  were  handed  on  to  him  by  Polo- 
nius  seems  to  put  Hamlet  on  his  guard.  Almost  at 
once  he  asks  them  what  brought  them  hither,  and 
when  they  cannot  answer  clearly  he  puts  it  to  them 
more  pointedly,  "what  make  you  at  Elsinore?"  Their 
evasive  answer  leads  him  to  ask  directly,  "Wer^  you 
not  sent  for.?"'  and  they  confess  they  were.  This  ex- 
ceeding smallness  of  their  characters  leads  him  to  try 
to  shame  them  by  his  eloquent  words  on  the  greatness 
of  man :  "What  a  piece  of  work  is  man !  how  noble  in 
reason!  how  infinite  in  faculty!  in  form  and  moving, 
how  express  and  admirable !  in  action  how  like  an  angel  I 
in  apprehension,  how  like  a  god!  the  beauty  of  the 
world  I  the  paragon  of  animals !"  ( II.  ii.  295-9. )  They 
are  not  shamed  and  not  warned,  however,  but  like  the 
simple  pass  on  and  are  punished. 

These  intimations  that  Hamlet  is  not  unconscious 
of  their  mission  do  not  dissuade  them  from  further 
attempts.  After  the  play,  they  try  him  once  more, 
and  again  fail,  this  time  ignominiously.  They  are  not 
so  wise  and  clever  at  dissembling  as  Polonius,  and  it 
does  not  take  Hamlet  long  to  turn  the  tables  on  them. 
Very  stupidly  they  ask  him  directly,  "What  is  the  cause 
of  your  distemper.'"'  When  they  admit  they  cannot 
play  upon  the  pipe  he  offers  them,  he  turns  sharply  on 
them,  saying,  "You  would  play  upon  me,"  and  ends  up 
by  telling  them,  "Call  me  what  instrument  you  will, 
though  you  can  fret  me,  you  cannot  play  upon  me." 
(III.  ii.  364-6.) 


90 


Hamh't,  an  hhal  Prince 


h»e«cu!io„.     They Toro  ,ur-^-"  ?"''<=■>»'»  '■> 
ku,  agent,  „f  the  WngthVt  H«^!  t"f  '"''  ""'""Po- 
tions in  turnine  tlieir  tr?,i  '  *"".  "°  =»n>Punc- 
oontriving  that^therbe  .wlir,K  *"""''"  '"'' 
There  is  no  need  tr.l.!?  !    ""  ""^""  "'"'  P^'»>-" 
Though  Hamlet  w«,  a  vervl'tr'  '^'  *™'"'"- 
jninister"  of  heaven  in  the  death  o7p7  '     TT  '"'' 
hesitation  in  prenarin^  I                 Polonius,  he  has  no 
loivs.     He  we?t  Kr^,/      T  V?,?."  "'"'^  '^hool-fel- 
though  he  Tec^olnfe^  the"?   y    '"'^'".?  ^'''■>"'''''  "» 
did  not  weep  oTtl^fet  ^rn  "  °'  ''"  ''™"''  >»"*  he 
stern.     In  view  of  0.n  I        '''"^"5"'>*"  *"''  Guilden- 

great  -ues"„T  stakf  for°Sf "and'' h'  ""  ?"  V^^ 

sk::.:'-'  ""'-'  -rihr„''„rtttd  rarL*:! 

ensT';nX' wlraVpoTo^r-  ""^-"-'^  ->"  «uiM- 

thedes;erat:cL"crefo7theki'I'    HeT"'  '".^'■" 
use  every  treachprv  «„„•    \  tt      ,^'     "*^  ^^^  ready  to 

before  PutW  h1S't:Tal'h«tlr  il;"!^  "!?  1?^ 

him  from  commiH;„„         »t  ''"™''^«d  that  prevented 

with  „am,enprrl'?^rtrgh„""t;ds'^tdr '"^ 
confession,  make  clear  to  „«  S  V  i  '^"'^  ^'*  °^n 

of  the  mu'rder  oftfs^'r^o  he  '"'3';^^  ^  ^SroU^ '"^''' 

covenng  up  the  traces  of  his  ^^ny'^'^^^.V. 


Hamlet 


91 


task  very  difficult.  And  the  retribution  that  finally 
overtakes  him  is  not  more  for  the  foul  murder  of  his 
brother  than  for  the  new  treachery  of  the  duel. 

Handet  and  Ophelia. 

The  relations  of  Hamlet  and  Ophelia,  and  the  ap- 
parent cruelty  of  her  castin^ofF,  have  been  the  subject 
of  much  discussion.  Hamh  himself  appears  to  have 
found  it  almost  heartbreaking  to  discard  her,  and 
finally  did  so  only  when  convinced  that  she  was  treach- 
erous and  untruthful.  Any  condemnation  or  justifica- 
tion of  Hamlet's  conduct  in  this  sad  affair  can  be 
reached  only  by  a  very  careful  consideration  of  all  the 
circumstances. 

There  is  much  evidence  in  the  play  that  Hamlet 
once  loved  Ophelia  sincerely.  The  parting  words  of 
Laertes  to  his  sister  as  he  is  about  to  return  to  Paris 
make  it  clear  that  Hamlet  had  long  been  known  as 
her  lover.  (I.  iii.)  Hamlet's  letter  assured  her  of 
his  unalterable  love,  and  vowed  that  he  loved  her  best. 
(II.  ii.)  In  the  scene  in  which  Polonius  and  the  king 
are  concealed  behind  the  arras,  he  told  her  "I  did  love 
you  once."  (III.  i.  114-15.)  And  in  the  burial  scene, 
over  her  dead  body,  he  uttered  the  words,  "I  loved 
Ophelia,"  and  went  on  to  say  that  his  love  was  more 
than  that  of  forty  thousand  brothers.  (V.  i.  257-9.) 
Ophelia  herself  thought  he  loved  her,  and  reported  to 
her  father  that,  "He  hath,  my  lord,  of  late  made  many 
tenders  of  his  affection  to  me."     (I.  iii.  99-100.) 

Other  persons  of  the  play  also  thought  he  loved  her. 
The  queen  said  mournfully  at  the  funeral,  "I  hoped 
thou  shouldst  have  been  my  Hamlet's  wife."  (V.  i. 
S3S.)  Laertes  was  at  first  doubtful  of  his  love  for 
her  but  later  admits,  "Perhaps  he  loves  you  now." 


2» 


9ft 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


'{  §: 


he  .pp,„ed  ungroomed  «„d  troubled   S     rn  '1 
Even  the  l,„g  ,„„^  thatHamktt  wS  ' 

Opheha  w„  genuine  ,„d  honorable.  '""  '"'" 

a^rainst  Hamlet    anrl  fn  ^"^    *«    warn    his    sister 

wished  onl,  lo'Lradrtfr'oftr"  t]  p","""' 

129  )     Hp  fK     7P^°r**°"  o'  unholj  suits."     (I    hi 

Lalt  "r  P  „tiu?tl.nf  r   r"--   -"-er 
could  mar";  the  ditf^.^K''"''^'','''   "   P""«> 

assured  his",i,ter'Zl' Ha^  e    t'S^^Tl.  ^H' 
choose  a  wi*^^   fnr  Ki'tn.^u    u  x  , ,    ""'   "«  free  to 

his  birth,,  and  tttrl^'JuTd't'^e^fe't^ 

fi  mdM  "not  d  .^'f  ■     ^;-  "i;.  "-«*•)     Po^on^»';' 

to  have  re„,iJaZr^X7H^±l  '"""  ^•*" 
out  of  thy    star."      (n.    ii     1101      Af    «  \^1;"' 

easy  t?;;'  Sp  toheH°;  '?.'•  "r'l  *"  -t  ""O  " 


-J    t' 


Hamlet 


98 


revelations  of  the  ghost  he  rcrtlized  that  his  task  would 
require  the  renunciation  of  every  other  plan  of  life, 
and  the  abandonment  of  every  other  hope  and  ambition! 
He  promised  the  ghost  to  "wipe  away  all  trivial  fond 
records,"  and  assured  the  ghost  that 

"thy  commandnient  all  alone  shall  Uvr 
Within  the  book  and  volume  of  my  brain, 
Unmix'd  with  baser  matter." 

(I.  T.  108-4.) 

Hamlet  may  have  thought  that  his  great  task  would 
absorb  all  his  energies,  and  tax  all  his  powers,  not 
leaving  any  opportunity  for  love  and  marriage ;  or  he 
may  have  thought  that  in  his  hazardous  adventure  ht 
would  likely  lose  his  life.  In  either  case,  love  and  mar- 
riage were  not  for  him. 

It  is  quite  likely,  however,  that  there  was  also  an- 
other reason  as  well.  Hamlet  seems  to  have  been  con- 
vinced that  Ophelia  did  not  now  love  him,  whatever 
might  have  been  the  case  in  the  past.  When  Ophelia 
remarked  about  the  prologue  to  his  play  of  The  Mouse- 
trap that  «  'Tis  brief,  my  lord,"  he  instantly  retorted, 
doubtless  thinking  both  of  his  mother  and  of  her  "As 
woman's  love."  (III.  ii.  143-4.)  Whether  the  cause  of 
her  ceasing  to  love  him  was  fickleness  or  an  inability  to 
appreciate  the  noble  qualities  of  his  nature,  the  fact 
seems  to  be  that  Hamlet  felt  she  no  longer  loved  him. 
It  was  a  great  grief  to  him,  and  he  did  not  part  with 
her  without  great  sorrow. 

Hamlet,  however,  did  not  discard  her  until  he  found 
her  treacherous  and  untruthful.  Had  Ophelia  not 
given  herself  to  her  father's  schemes  against  him,  he 
might  have  continued  his  affections,  but  when  he  was 
obliged  to  doubt  her  fidelity,  there  was  nothing  left  for 
him  but  to  cast  her  off.    When  he  visited  her,  dishevelled 


94 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


and  norvou»,  his  purpose-  apparently  whh  to  pry  into 
that  came  to  hm.  then  wtro  confirmed  later  when  he 

tZ  wa'/tf  \^'"f  *^^  P'*'*^  °'  '^'^°^  ^-  ''-  '"»,e'! 
worJhrn?  5"?^  """^  convincing  evidence  of  her  un- 

worthiness,  and  he  never  trusted  her  after 

Hamlet's  behavior  toward  Ophelia  was  no  doubt 
cruel,  as  all  such  affairs  are  cruel;  but  as  with  his 
mother  later  he  was  cruel  only  to  be  kind.     It  should 

W.5      l  K-  'P?^r  ^''  «'^**  soliloquy,  and  had  de- 
bated with  himself  the  question  of  pursuing  his  revenge 
oven  at  the  cost  of  his  life.     With  this  load  upon  hTs 
spirit  he  must  have   felt  her  treachery   very   keenW 
Her  assumption  of  the  part  of  injured  innocence  while 
all  the  time  she  knew  thai  her  father  and  the  king  were 
listening  to  every  word  of  Hamlet,  and  then  her  false- 
hood when  asked  about  her  father,  surely  revealed  her 
unworthy  of  the  noble  Hamlet.    It  was  only  chen  that 
he  suggested  she  should  never  marry  by  sayinir.  "Get 
thee  to  a  nunnery."  -      J      J    s*    "ec 

There  is  no  evidence  in  the  play  that  Ophelia  her- 
self actively  took  part  against  Hamlet,  but  only  that 
she  accepted  the  position  of  decoy  for  her  father's  craft 
and  cunning     Her  very  weakness,  however,  was  itself 

But  he  felt  her  faithlessnesr  very  keenly.  It  was  not, 
however,  the  fault  of  Hamlet  that  Ophelia's  mind  be- 
came distracted.  The  prime  cause  of  her  misfortune 
was  rather  the  suspicions  and  the  treachery  of  her 
father  and  the  king,  whose  innocent  victim  she  was 

But  Hamlet   never   forgot  his   love   for  "the"  fair 
Opheha.      At  the  play,  when  his  mother  asked  Iiim  to 


HamUt 


9S 


-it  by  her,  he  lay  down  at  Oplicliu'H  ffct  instead,  say- 
ing, "No,  good  mother,  here's  metal  more  attractive." 
(III.  ii.  103.)  Ophelia  still  had  some  power  over  him, 
and  he  continued  near  her  throughout  the  play.  Then 
when  he  found  himself  at  last  unwittingly  at  her  funer- 
al, his  old  love  returned  and  led  him  to  vie  with  Laer- 
tes in  the  expression  of  grief  and  he  says : 

"I  loved  Ophelia;  forty  thousand  brothers 
Could  not,  with  all  their  quantity  of  love. 
Make  up  my  sum." 

(V.  I.  W7.949.) 

It  is  apparent,  then,  that  though  he  had  cast  her  off, 
he  never  ceased  to  love  her.  In  her  death  he  pitied  her, 
but  he  could  never  scorn  her. 


The  Opportunity  of  the  Players. 

In  spite  of  all  his  efforts  and  his  "antic  disposition," 
Hamlet  had  not  secured  any  objective  evidence  that 
the  king  was  guilty  of  his  father's  murder,  and  he  still 
hesitated  to  execute  the  injunctions  of  the  ghost.  The 
first  event  that  afforded  him  a  real  opportunity,  how- 
ever, was  the  bringing  of  the  players  to  court,  pre- 
sumably to  divert  him  from  his  melancholy.  His  quick 
wit  instantly  seized  upon  the  occasion  given  him  to  turn 
them  to  his  own  account.  He  welcomes  the  actors,  and 
recognizes  the  first  player  as  an  old  friend,  and  expects 
that  he  will  lend  himself  to  his  ends.  Then  he  tries  out 
the  first  player,  and  after  satisfying  himself  of  their 
ability,  he  arranges  for  them  to  enact  a  play  that  he 
calls  The  Murder  of  Gonzago.  He  wa  its  them  to  have 
it  ready,  as  he  says,  by  "to-morrow  night." 

Hamlet  seems  greatly  pleased  at  this  opportunity. 
It  furnishes  him  with  just  the  kind  of  opening  he  has 


v 

III ' 


w 


h     I, 


96 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


Z^llf\r^  ^-^"^'^  *^'  ^"'^^*'^*'  ^^^^^^  henceforth 
Wrif  ^.^^l,;**^^*^"*-     His  refraining  from  killing  the 

scheme  H.^  r^t/^^^Prehensive  and  far-reaching 
onZS'  •?  '"1*"u*^^  ^'■^'P'  *^^  possibilities  of  thif 
tZlZH'  1.^^^  H'  '^^^^"*  ^'^S^^  i«  observed  by 

queen  later,  Rosencrantz  said,  "there  did  seem  in  him 
a  kind  of  joy  To  hear  of  it."    (III.  i.  18-19.) 

HnrLf"  ?  f *  ^°'l  "°*  '"P°^  ^^«  Pl«n«  even  to 
Horatio,  and  we  learn  them  only  from  his  soliloquy : 

r»i  ...  "^'^^  have  these  players 

Play  something  Uke  the  murder  of  my  father 

?)f  flnf^M  ^  *""1^''  ''"  °b«"^«  his^loolST 
111  tent  him  to  the  quick;  if  he  but  blench. 
1  know  my  course."  o^cncn, 

(II.  IL  470-4.) 

In  this  soliloquy  he  discloses  his  mind  for  the  first  time. 
He  has  heatated  to  kill  the  king  on  the  sole  evidence 
tl^'  «^rt'Jor  "*^e  fPirit  that  I  have  seen  May  be 

mSei'j'^^*  r.\r    ^e"X%«Setng 
Wherein  I'U  catch  the  conscience  of  the  kin/" 

(II.  11.  579-581.) 

Hamlet's  Advice  to  the  Players. 

In  order  that  his  schemes  may  not  miscarry,  Hamlet 
coaches  the  players  very  carefully  until  he  ^ts  them 
in  condition  to  render  his  plav  i„  a  fitting  manner  be- 
fore the  king  He  first  instructs  them  in  enunciatiot 
tellmg  them  to  "Speak  the  speech,  I  pray  you,  Ts 
I  pronounced  it  to  you,  trippingly  on  the  tongue." 


Hamlet 


9T 


(in.  ii.  1-2.)  Then  he  warns  them  against  violent  ges- 
ticulations, saying,  "Nor  do  not  saw  the  air  too  much 
with  your  hands,  thus ;  but  use  all  gently."  (4-5.)  He 
exhorts  them  to  temperance  in  the  expression  of  pas- 
sion, without,  however,  falling  short  of  due  intensity, 
urging,  "Be  not  too  tame  neither,  but  .  .  .  isuit  the 
action  to  the  word,  the  word  to  the  action;  with  this 
special  observance:  that  you  o'erstep  not  the  modesty 
of  nature."  (15-18.)  He  reminds  them  that  the  one 
rule  of  acting  is  "to  hold,  as  'twere,  the  mirror  up  to 
nature."  (20-1.)  The  purpose  of  it  all  is,  he  says, 
"to  show  virtue  her  own  feature,  scorn  her  own  image, 
and  the  very  age  and  body  of  the  time  his  form  and 
pressure."  (21-3).  He  closes  his  advice  by  words 
meant  to  restrain  the  activities  of  the  clowns,  and  keep 
them  in  their  proper  places. 

This  advice  to  the  players  shows  the  high  artistic 
ideals  Hamlet,  and  Shakespeare,  entertained  for  the 
drama.  It  is  to  retain  its  previous  high  character,  and 
is  not  to  be  a  mere  form  of  amusement  either  for  the 
groundlings  or  the  better  class.  It  is  to  keep,  too,  a 
very  distinct  ethical  function,  and  to  serve  as  a  means 
of  instructing  the  people  in  morals.  Acting  is  to  be 
sincere,  and  the  methods  of  the  drama  at  once  realistic 
and  idealistic.  The  times  should  be  mirrored  on  the 
stage,  and  yet  the  whole  spirit  should  be  that  of  high 
moral  idealism.  No  reference  is  made  to  the  dramatic 
controversies  of  the  day,  but  the  entire  purport  of  *^e 
advice  implies  that  the  dramatist  has  in  mind  tu 
romantic  drama,  with  its  union  of  comedy  and  tragedy, 
and  with  its  indifference  to  all  "unities"  except  that 
of  action.  The  noble  words  of  the  advice  indicate 
further  the  dramatist's  intention  to  endow  Hamlet  with 
the  highest  intellectual  and  moral  character. 


98 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


ThePlay—^^rhe  Mouse-trap." 

The  success  of  Hamlet's  little  dIhv  »H.fnrn  f u     i  • 

U     iTu  ^"^^"  makes  the  king  uneasy,  lest  there 

Sit  Xt  tr  i"  't .  ^"*  H-^^t  ™t^ 

ironically    that     they  do  but  jest,  poison  in  iest-  no 
offence  ,'  the  world."     When  asked  the  nlme  of  his 
play,  he  says  it  is  called,  fiirurativelv   Th^  ZT^     I 
and  then  gives  an  outlin'e  oUh::tu^:t^^^^^^^ 

'rei::;  Cnds'^^l"'"^  "'  *'^  '^'"^'  '^^^^^^^^ 
witnesses  the  poisoning  he  can  endure  it  no  loniror  and 

rises  and  goes  out.    His  guilt  is  now  manifest^  ^ell 

as  the  innocence  of  the  queen.    She  sees  no  slg^ificanc 

s  ctr  "h  T.^^""^  *'^  P''^^  '^«^'^'  but^heTng 
18  caught  m  Hamlet's  mouse-trap.  ** 

During  the  performance  of  the  play  Hamlet  reveals 

t'^n  S*' T*  *''  ^r*  «train^unir  which  he  ha 
been  hving.     His  anxiety  to  entrap  the  kinir  and  to 
observe  the  least  trace  of  guilt  in  him  as  Sfe  pUyer 
king  IS  poisoned  leads  him  beyond  the  bounds  of  tac 
and  of  discretion.    His  eagerness  to  explain  the  plav 
and  to  assure  the  king  that  there  is  no  offence  f„T 

esTiXlrW  th™"^"*^  ^'  ^^  P^*^^  Procel  ai'd 
vinced  the  king  that  Hamlet  was  consciously  tryinir  to 
entrap  him.  But  so  excited  was  Hamlet  that  Jo^once 
he  failed  mtactfulness.  From  this  time  the  kin^  was 
convinced  that  Hamlet  was  dangerous,  and  made  al 
haste  to  despatch  him  to  England 

With  the  complete  and  unmistakable  proof  of  the 


Hamlet 


99 


king's  guilt  afforded  by  the  play,  Hamlet's  delighf  In- 
comes uncontrollable.  He  breaks  into  popubu  ditties 
Hs  soon  as  he  is  alone  with  Horatio,  and  Is  so  well 
satisfied  that  he  exclaims  jubilantly,  "I'll  take  the 
ghost's  word  for  a  thousand  pound."  (IH.  ii.  274-5.) 
All  doubt  is  now  removed,  and  he  Ij  prepared  to  enter 
actively  upon  his  task  of  revenge.  This  marks  another 
Hamlet  "transformation,"  and  from  this  time  he  shows 
a  more  merry  spirit,  as  Ophelia  observes  at  the  play. 
But  the  king  is  now  equally  alive  to  the  issue,  and 
Hamlet  has  to  encounter  equally  active  opposition. 
Almost  single-handed  he  has  to  challenge  the  king  with 
his  host  of  hirelings,  and  with  all  the  power  and  pre- 
rogatives of  a  ruler  at  his  command. 

There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  discussion  about  Ham- 
let's little  play.  It  is  apparent  from  Hamlet's  inten- 
tion of  adding  to  the  play  "a  speech  of  some  dozen 
or  sixteen  lines"  that  it  did  not  altogether  suffice  as  it 
stood.  Diligent  search  has  been  made  for  these  addi- 
tional lines  in  his  play  of  Gonzago,  but  they  have  not 
been  identified.  It  has  been  recently  suggested  that 
these  lines  cannot  be  identified,  because,  instead  of 
adding  to  the  play  he  had,  Hamlet  found  it  necessary 
to  write  an  entire  new  play  that  would  come  closer 
to  the  circumstances  of  his  father's  murder.  By  this 
means  he  was  able  to  depict  accurately  what  the  ghost 
had  told,  and  make  a  certain  test  of  its  truth.  The 
entire  success  of  his  play  proved  beyond  doubt  that  the 
ghost  had  been  a  good  spirit  and  had  told  him  the 
truth.^ 

'  Cf.  Trench,  Shakespeare's  Hamlet,  a  New  Commentary,  pp. 
108  9,  llT-124,  155-160,  and  Appendix  C,  pp.  260-6.  London: 
Smith,  Elder  &  Co.,  1913. 


i-T*  -      SkJll"ii 


100 


I'! 


m 

Mi 


11 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


The  Kivg  at  Prayer. 

opinion.     The  evidence  he  has  obtained  serve/tn  .„« 
vince  him  and  Horatio,  but  would  not  fc  ^eeptd  i^" 
conclusive  in  a  court  of  law  or  before  the  publTc!'^  Ha  " 

tnceforr- '  ^A  '?'  ""  *■"   "•''™'   «luctance,  a^d 
P^n^lif^cor"'"'"  '°  """^^  "''  '"*''"  ">■-  *h»  op 

The  play  ha    served  to  prick  the  kino.'«  ««„=  • 
.nd  in  his  soliloquy  now  fo^t  fat  S  hracS 
edges  his  guilt,  and  displays  considerable  remorse 

"2\;!{  »««nce  Is  rani,  It  smeDs  to  ht.ven- 
It  hatli  the  primal  eldest  curse  upo"? 


A  brother's  murder  I" 


(III.  iii.  S6..38.) 


But  he  cannot  pray,  for  he  is  not  willing  to  acknowl- 

offfn  r-"Tet  ^"S  °"  ^  ^^t-"''  '"^  -' " 
oirence.         Yet  he   is   constrained   ♦-   kneel,   thinkinir 

there  may  be  some  virtue  in  that  lopinxr  he  maf 

to  which  Hamlet  apparently  wanted  to  lead  himfbut 
he  does  not  repent  and  cannot  pray.  Never  a^rahi 
does  he  come  so  near  to  the  throne  of  grace  bufhe 
passes  on  unforgiven.  **        '     "*  "® 


Hamlet 


101 


To  find  the  king  thus  alone  seemed  also  to  be  Ham- 
let's long-looked- for  opportunity.  But  once  more  he 
withholds  his  dagger,  and  instead  falls  into  his  habit  of 
philosophy.  He  recognizes  that  he  has  his  chance, 
saying: 

"Now  might  I  do  it  pat,  now  he  is  praying;  . 
And  now  I'll  do't;  and  so  he  goes  to  heaven; 
And  so  am  I  revenged." 

(III.  iii.  73-5.) 

But  for  some  reason  the  conditions  do  not  suit  him,  and 
he  refrains,  saying,  "this  is  hire  and  salary,  not  re- 
venge.'* He  thinks  the  king  would  go  to  heaven  from 
his  prayers,  and  so  he  prefers  to  kill  him  some  time 
when  he  finds  him  drunk  or  in  some  other  sin,  "that  his 
soul  may  be  as  damn'd  and  black  As  hell,  whereto  it 
goes." 

This,  however,  has  seemed  to  most  critics  entirely 
out  of  accord  with  the  acknowledged  moral  character 
of  Hamlet.  It  seems  brutal  and  barbaric,  not  human 
or  Christian.  It  has,  therefore,  been  suggested  that 
this  passage  is  not  Shakespeare's,  but  a  relic  of  the 
old  play  that  Shakespeare  has  failed  to  work  out  of 
his  play,  or  has  for  some  unaccountable  reason  over- 
looked. Others  suggest  that  it  is  only  another  excuse 
Hamlet  makes  to  himself  for  further  procrastination, 
and  is  intended  to  deceive  no  one  but  himself.  Richard- 
son suggests  that  he  merely  offers  this  motive  as  "one 
better  suited  to  the  opinions  of  the  multitude,"  and 
that  he  was  withheld  "by  the  scruples,  and  perhaps 
weakness,  of  extreme  sensibility."  ^  But  none  of  these 
seem  adequate  explanations,  for  they  are  too  con- 
jectural, and  have  too  little  basis  in  the  play  itself. 

The  words  of  the  play  leave  it  by  no  means  certain 
^Ettayt  on  Some  of  Shaketpeare'i  Drcttnatic  Character$,  5th 
edition,  1798,  p.  133. 


102 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


that  Hamlet  wants  to  see  the  king  consigned  to  eternal 
damnation  for  the  murder.     It   needs  i   be   recaHcd 

tSou^ht  £',  '"'^T^  °/  '^'  ^^"^^^  *"^  i"  the  popular 
thought  hell  was  but  the  piece  of  the  dead,  and  miirht 

kW;  *  r  • 'k1  *^^*  "^"'^^*  "^'^^'^^  °"Jy  that  the 
HeClntJ  v'^^*  f?  *°  purgatory  and  not  to  heaven. 
^fJ,r"fi  .!''"'  T^  °  ^°  *°  P^'^^t^°"'  hut  to  the  place 
Thfs   conoPnr '      •     K  ""^  "^'°^*^"  ""«*  ^°r  heaven. 

where  °S''"  i'  t"'^'^  °"*  ^^  *^^  ^^''"^^  P^^^' 
Where      hell      undoubtedly    means    only    purgatory 

Hamlet  there  says  when  he  kills  the  king:  "But  this 
tyrant,  I  hope  he  may  wash  off  his  black  sins  in  hell »  ^ 
It  may  be  an  expression  of  the  same  idea  in  Marlowe's 
'S^^s^f^  --   -  ^^   -hs  /atTs! 

giving  him  the  right  of  "sanctuary,"  which  Hamlet 
as  a  pious  man  would  not  violate.  The  stage  directfons 
kW  ««?'*''  ";  very  meagre,  and  say  only  that  the 
king     Retires  and  kneels."     There  is  no  reference  to 

telw  °'  '^*P'i'  ^'  ''  *^^  ^^"«  had  entered  tho 
temple  to  pray.  But  tae  German  play  has  fuUer 
stage  directions,  and  under  Act  HI.,  Scene  I.,  in  which 
the  account  of  this  incident  is  given,  there  are  iile  Tree 

^rV  /J-  ''  P/^«^"t^d  an  Altar  in  a  Temple."  At 
the  close  of  his  self-accusation  the  dii actions  are:  "The 
King  kneels  before  the  altar."  « 

Here,  then,  is  probably  the  true  explanation.    Ham- 
let does  not  want  to  violate  the  sanctuary  in  killing  the 

»Eng.  trans,  in  Furness,  II,  p.  143. 
Marlowe's  Doctor  Fawtut.  Temple  edition.  Scene  XIIT  41 
•  Eng.  trans,  in  Furness,  II,  p.  133  '     *^"®  '^"''  **' 


Hamlei 


103 


king,  and  thus  bring  sin  upon  himself.  And  ho  does 
not  want  the  king  to  go  straight  to  heaven,  as  he  might 
if  killed  at  his  prayers.  Hamlet  wants  to  make  sure 
that  he  will  go  to  purgatory,  where  he  will  be  punished 
for  his  crime,  but  where  also,  as  the  German  play  says, 
"he  may  wash  off  his  black  sins  in  hell." 

This  desire  not  to  desecrate  the  holy  altar  is  in 
perfect  keeping  with  the  moral  and  pious  spirit  of 
Hamlet.  To  revenge  his  father's  murder  is  a  filial 
duty  to  which  he  is  ready  to  sacrifice  his  own  life.  But 
he  is  not  to  taint  his  own  mind  by  doing  a  greater 
wrong.  He  will,  therefore,  not  commit  an  impiety  even 
in  the  discharge  of  so  solemn  a  duty. 

In  contrast  with  this  nobleness,  however,  stand  the 
king  and  Laertes.  When  the  king  has  incited  Laertes 
against  Hamlet,  he  feels  so  vengeful  that  he  says  he 
is  even  ready  "To  cut  his  throat  i'  the  church."  The 
king  instantly  agrees  with  this  infamy,  by  saying: 

"No  place  indeed  should  murder  sanctuarize; 
Revenge  should  have  no  bounds." 

(IV.  vu.  128-9.) 


Hamlet  and  His  Mother. 

Before  sending  Hamlet  to  England  one  more  attempt 
is  made  to  solve  the  mystery  of  his  strange  behavior. 
He  is  now  recognized  as  a  troublesome  and  dangerous 
character,  and  the  king  sees  in  him  a  direct  challenge 
to  his  own  position.  With  the  failure  of  the  king  and 
his  spies  to  bring  Hamlet  to  time,  Folonius  arranges 
that  he  shall  be  interviewed  by  his  mother.  The  old 
steward  tells  the  queen  to  use  her  influence  with  him, 
and  advises  her  to  "lay  home  to  him,"  and  to  "Tell 
him  his  pranks  have  been  too  broad  to  bear  with."  (IIL 
iv.  1-2.) 


104 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


From  the  beginning,  however,  it  is  the  queen  who  is 
interviewed  bjr  Hamlet.  His  finer  moral  sense  has  been 
shocked  by  his  mother's  conduct,  and  he  takes  her  to 
task  with  as  much  severity  as  becomes  a  son.  In  his 
remonstrance  against  her  marriage  with  the  king  he 
"speaks  daggers  but  uses  none."  His  powerful 
spirit  upbraids  and  convicts  her  of  her  sins,  and  she 
tries  to  escape  from  him.  But  his  strong  will  compels 
her  to  listen,  and  he  says : 

"Come,  come,  and  sit  you  down;  you  shall  not  budse: 
You  go  not  till  I  set  you  up  a  glass 
Where  you  may  see  the  inmost  part  of  you." 

(III.  iv.  18-90) 

In  the  heat  of  the  conference  he  discovers  some  one 
eavesdropping,  and  thinking  it  the  king,  makes  a  pass 
through  the  arras,  only  to  find  he  has  killed  old  Polo- 
"!"*.'  T*^^  °^^  ™^"  ^*^  *t  ^*st  suffered  the  penalty  of 
his  intrigue  and  of  his  devotion  to  the  king's  nefarious 
schemes.  It  was  no  part  of  Hamlet's  plan,  however, 
and  he  afterwards  grieved  bitterly  at  the  fatal  mistake 
of  his  impetuosity.  But  the  provocation  was  very 
great,  and  for  the  moment  his  hand  got  the  better  of 
his  judgment.  It  would  have  been  equally  a  mistakr 
however,  had  it  been  as  he  thought  the  king.  The  time 
was  not  yet  ripe  for  the  execution  of  the  king,  as  he 
had  not  yet  secu.ed  the  objective  evidence.  But  he  was 
morally  certain  of  the  king's  guilt  and  could  not  stay 
his  hand. 

During  his  interview  with  his  mother  the  ghost  ap- 
pears to  Hamlet  for  the  last  time.  He  has  been  delay- 
ing, and,  it  seems  to  the  ghost,  neglecting  his  task  of 
revenge.  He  comes,  therefore,  as  he  says,  "to  whet 
thy  almost  blunted  purpose."  Though  tardy,  Hamlet 
has  not  forgotten  his  duty.     He  has  only  held  back 


Wl 


HamUi 


105 


for  the  time  to  be  ripe,  and  to  gain  the  necessary  evi- 
dence. He  has  been  trying  to  obey  all  the  injunctions 
of  the  ghost,  and  has  been  endeavoring  to  carry  out 
the  revenge  without  tainting  his  own  mind  or  harming 
his  mother.  There  is  now  some  evidence  that  his 
mother's  interests  and  his  consideration  for  her  have 
done  much  to  restrain  him. 

The  ghost  is  manifestly  invisible  to  the  queen,  and 
she  regards  Hamlet  as  mad  when  he  addresses  the 
apparition.  She  sees  him  bend  his  "eye  on  vacancy," 
and  thinks  him  in  some  grave  distemper.  Bewildered 
to  see  him  looking  into  what  is  to  her  only  empty  space, 
and  yet  apparently  seeing  some  object,  she  asks  him, 
"Whereon  do  you  look?"  and  Hamlet  replies,  "On  him, 
on  him."  Looking  upon  the  pitiful  ghost  of  his  father 
deeply  stirs  the  spirit  of  Hamlet,  and  makes  him  equal 
to  the  great  revenge.  But  turning  once  more  to  his 
mother  he  finds  her  looking  piteously  on  him  instead 
of  the  ghost,  and  apparently  thinking  him  distracted. 
The  sight  of  the  distressed  look  of  his  mother,  and 
the  thought  of  the  ghost's  command  not  to  harm  her, 
once  more  take  from  him  his  strong  resolve,  and  he 
feels  more  like  weeping  for  his  mother  than  revenging 
his  father.  His  love  for  his  mother  and  his  desire  to 
save  her  take  the  sternness  out  of  his  resolve,  and  he 
is  more  disposed  to  shed  tears  than  blood.  He,  there- 
fore, begs  her: 

"Do  not  look  upon  me. 
Lest  with  this  piteous  action  you  convert 
My  stern  eflFects;  then  what  I  have  to  do 
Will  want  true  color  1  tears  perchance  for  blood."* 

(III.  iv.  197-130.) 

It  is  important,  therefore,  to  notice  that  Hamlet's  love 
for  his  mother  and  concern  for  her  honor,  together  with 
*Cf.  Note  C,  pp.  295-8,  infra. 


106 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


the  injunction  of  the  ghost,  acted  as  a  great  restraint 
upon  his  pursuit  of  revenge.  There  was  great  danger 
that  in  striking  the  king  he  should  also  strike  his 
mother.  And  his  hand  was  therefore  stayed  till  he 
could  find  an  opportunity  to  strike  without  harming 
her. 

In  respect  to  his  mother,  Hamlet's  desire  was  that 
she  should  cut  herself  loose  from  the  king.  His  moral 
nature  is  shown  in  his  desire  to  have  her  quit  the  dis- 
honorable relationship  with  the  king,  and  live  a  virtuous 
life.  The  whole  purport  of  his  interview  with  her  was 
to  rouse  her  to  a  recognition  of  the  immorality  of  her 
present  life.  The  visit  of  the  ghost  offers  the  occa- 
sion for  speaking  even  more  plainly  to  her,  and  he 
beseeches  her: 

"Confess  yourself  to  heaven; 
Repent  what's  past,  avoid  what  is  to  come." 

(III.  It.  149-150.) 


But  the  queen  was  obdurate.  She  could  be  made  to 
see  "black  and  grained  spots"  upon  her  soul,  but  she 
would  not  relinquish  her  evil  life.  Hamlet's  words  might 
cleave  her  heart  in  twain,  but  she  would  not  take  his 
advice  to 

"throw  away  the  worser  part  of  it. 
And  live  the  purer  with  the  other  half." 

(III.  iv.  157-8.) 


All  he  could  do,  then,  was  to  warn  his  mother,  on  peril 
of  breaking  her  own  neck,  not  to  tell  the  king  that  he 
is  only  "mad  in  craft." 

Then  he  recalls  to  her  that  he  is  to  be  sent  to  Eng- 
land, in  charge  of  his  old  school-fellows,  Rosencrantz 


Hamlet 


107 


and  Guildenstern,  and  he  ventures  the  prophecy  that 
these  false  friends  will  be  "hoist  by  their  own  petar." 
Hamlet  seems  fully  aware  of  his  own  superior  ability 
of  mind,  and  believes  that  even  with  adverse  circum- 
stances he  can  still  manage  to  turn  the  course  of  events 
to  his  own  advantage.  It  is  only  by  the  rapid  com- 
bination of  untoward  conditions  after  the  killing  of 
Polonius  that  he  is  finally  overthrown,  though  even 
then  he  wins  the  moral  victory. 

Though  Hamlet  has  not  been  able  to  persuade  his 
mother  to  give  up  her  sinful  life,  she,  nevertheless,  re- 
tains her  love  for  her  son.  A  side  glimpse  of  her  is 
given  in  the  next  scene  in  which  she  displays  consider- 
able excellence  of  character,  and  love  for  Hamlet  The 
king  finds  her  where  Hamlet  had  just  left  Y  /  after 
the  interview,  and  he  asks,  "Where  "is  your  sr  .?"  She 
is  obliged  to  make  known  the  death  of  Polonius,  but 
she  tries  to  shield  Hamlet  from  her  husband  by  urging 
that  he  is  "mad  as  the  sea  and  wind,"  and  that  he  had 
killed  Polonius  by  mistaking  him  for  a  rat  behind  the 
arras.  Guarding  the  secret  of  his  feigned  madness, 
she  further  pleads  for  him  by  saying  that  now  "He 
weeps  for  what  is  done."  (IV.  i.  27.)  Her  evasions, 
however,  do  not  save  her  son  from  the  ever-deepening 
suspicions  of  the  king,  who  now  calls  him  "dangerous," 
and  finds  a  better  excuse  to  banish  him. 

HamleVa  Banishment. 

Very  gladly  would  the  king  dispatch  Hamlet  by  less 
subtle  means  than  he  had  used  to  dispatch  his  father. 
But  Hamlet's  great  popularity  forbids  the  king  at- 
tempting any  outer  violence.  He  is  forced  to  acknowl- 
edge that  the  people  love  Hamlet,  though  the  thought 
is  very  distasteful  to  him: 


^'H 


108 


HamUi,  an  Ideal  Princt 


"Yet  must  not  we  put  the  strong  law  on  him; 
He's  loved  of  the  distracted  multitude. 
Who  like  not  in  their  Judgment,  but  their  eyes." 

(IV.  ill.  S-i.) 

The  king  now  sees  that  something  desperate  must 
be  done  with  Hamlet  or  he  will  fall  victim  to  him.  It 
is  very  apparent  that  he  at  any  rate  does  not  labor 
under  the  idea  that  Hamlet  is  incapable  of  action.  He 
is,  on  the  contrary,  so  fearful  of  his  ability  to  act  and 
to  act  quickly,  that  he  prepares  to  send  him  to  Eng- 
land at  once.  He  makes  the  excuse  that  it  is  for 
Hamlet's  own  safety,  and  announces  to  him: 

"Iluinlct,  this  deed,  for  thine  especial  safety, 

must   send   thee  hence 

With  fiery  quickness." 

<IV.  iii.  S9-49.) 

Hamlet  is,  therefore,  sent  at  once  to  England,  then 
a  tributary  country  to  Denmark.  Claudius  gives  orders 
to  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstem  not  to  wait  till  the 
next  day,  but  to  take  him  at  once :  "Delay  it  not ;  I'll 
have  him  hence  to-night."  (IV.  iii.  64.)  The  king 
likewise  sends  orders  for  the  death  of  Hamlet,  and 
he  thinks  that  the  recollection  of  recent  chastisement 
by  Denmark  will  induce  the  king  of  England  to  execute 
his  orders.  Claudius  is  now  thoroughly  alarmed  at 
the  po».-,,ble  danger  from  Hamlet,  and  therefore  orders 
the  king  of  England  to  put  him  to  immediate  death: 

"Do  it,  Ensland; 
For  like  the  hectic  In  my  blooa  he  rases. 
And  thou  must  cure  me;  till  I  know°tis  done, 
Howe'er  my  haps,  my  joys  were  ne'er  begun." 

(IV.  ill.  64-67.) 

Fortinbras  Once  More. 

Just  before  the  embarkation,  the  presence  of  Fortin- 
bras hovers  once  more  over  the  stage,  apparently  as  a 


HamUi 


109 


temptation  and  augge.tion  to  Hamlet.  On  this  occa- 
sion  he  I.  using  his  license  from  Claudius  to  march 
across  Denmark  on  his  way  to  Poland.  He  had  sent 
this  message  to  Claudius,  by  one  of  his  captains: 

Td    Mm  that  by  his  license  Fortinbrai 
Claims  the  conveyance  of  a  promised  march 
Over  his  Icingdom." 

(IV.  Iv.  1-4.) 

The  king  had  succeeded  in  warding  off  the  imminent 
attack  of  Fortinbras  upon  Denmark  at  the  opening 
of  the  play  by  a  direct,  but  humiliating,  appeal  to  the 
old  uncle  of  the  prince.  At  that  time  the  ambassadors 
from  Claudius  to  the  old  king  of  Norway  br  uffht  back 
the  very  welcome  word  that  Fortinbras  >ad  been 
restrained  from  his  intended  revolt  and  invasion  of 
Denmark.  The  interpretation  of  the  matter  offered 
by  Horatio  m  the  first  scene  of  the  play  was  confirmed 
by  the  report  of  the  ambassadors.  The  old  king 
had  bwn  led  to  believe  that  Fortinbras  intended  his 
army  for  a  campaign  "against  the  Polack,"  but  was 
grieved  to  find  that  it  was  really  against  Denmark. 
Wherefore,  he  had  suppressed  his  nephew's  levies,  and 
rebuked  the  young  man,  who  now 

"Makes  vow  before  his  uncle  never  more 
To  give  the  assay  of  arms  against  your  majesty" 

(II.  11.  70-1.) 

At  this  the  king  of  Norway  was  much  pleased,  and  cave 
Fortinbras 

"commission  to  employ  those  soldiers. 
So  levied  as  before,  against  the  Polack;" 

(II.  11.  74-5.) 


110 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


and  requests  Claudius, 

"That  it  might  please  you  to  give  quiet  pass 
Through  your  dominions  for  this  enterprise." 

(II.  U.  77-8.) 

Fortinbras,  therefore,  in  prosecuting  his  march  through 
Danish  territory  against  the  Polack  is  only  availing 
himself  of  a  privilege  previously  granted  by  Claudius. 

The  juncture  of  Fortinbras's  march  across  Denmark 
with  Hamlet's  banishment  to  England  was  no  doubt 
intended  by  the  dramatist  as  an  opportunity  for 
Hamlet,  had  he  been  so  minded.  It  is  very  likely  that 
had  Hamlet  seized  the  occasion  he  could  have  enlisted 
Fortinbras  in  a  common  attack  on  Claudius.  The 
ease  with  which  Laertes  later  raised  a  rebellion  against 
the  king  would  suggest  that  one  with  Hamlet's  popu- 
larity and  the  prestige  of  his  princely  character  could 
very  readily  have  raised  an  army  to  join  with  Fortin- 
bras. Hanrlet  could  well  afford  to  promise  Fortinbras 
the  return  of  his  forfeited  lands  when  they  had  jointly 
deposed  Claudius.  But  all  this  temptation  Hamlet 
steadfastly  resists. 

Instead  of  making  common  cause  with  Fortinbras, 
Hamlet  steadfastly  maintains  his  way  of  peace.  The 
readiness  of  Fortinbras  for  war  stands  in  very  striking 
contrast  to  the  peaceable  ways  of  Hamlet,  and  is  doubt- 
less intended  by  the  dramatist  to  bring  out  Hamlet's 
character.  Shakespeare  was  a  hater  of  war  and  a 
lover  of  peace,  and  he  therefore  portrays  in  his  great- 
est character  the  heroism  of  peace.  But  the  coming 
of  Fortinbras  was  surely  meant  as  Hamlet's  tempta- 
tion. He  declines,  however,  to  bring  about  a  civil  war, 
that  would  mean  the  sacrifice  many  innocent  persons 
and  the  rending  of  the  kingdoiu,  though  he  does  not  set 


Hamlet 


111 


his  own  life  at  a  pin's  fee.  Hamlet,  however,  only  takes 
the  coming  as  an  inspiration  to  follow  up  more 
earnestly  his  own  appointed  task  of  revenging  his 
father^s  murder.  If  Fortinbras,  for  so  trifling  a  cause, 
and  with  so  little  provocation,  could  lead  an  army  to 
Poland,  surely  he  in  his  own  great  and  just  cause, 
should  be  more  active: 

"Oh,  from  this  time  forth. 
My  thoughts  be  bloody,  or  be  nothing  worth!" 

(IV.  iv.  65-6.) 

His  cause,  however,  is  peace,  not  war,  and  he  must 
revenge  the  murder  and  put  in  joint  the  broken  times 
without  doing  more  harm  than  he  is  charged  to  remedy. 
His  task  is  to  save  his  people,  not  to  destroy  them. 

Laertet  and  the  King. 

Upon  his  return  from  Paris,  Laertes  learns  of  the 
death  of  his  father,  and  charging  it  against  the  king, 
raises  a  small  revolt  against  him,  and  enters  his  pres- 
ence to  work  his  revenge.  He  has  succeeded  in  gather- 
ing a  considerable  following  and  they  evince  their  faith 
in  him  by  asking  that  he  be  made  king.  The  attend- 
ant reports  to  Claudius  that  the  people  cry: 

"'Laertes  shall  be  kingP 
Caps,  hands,  and  tongues  applaud  it  to  the  douds, 
'Laertes  shall  be  king,  Laertes  Idnvr" 

(IV.  V.  109-4.) 

The  king  has  some  trouble  in  pacifying  him,  and  ex- 
plains that  it  was  not  he  that  had  killed  his  father, 
saying,  **I  am  guiltless  of  your  father's  death." 
Laertes  is  Anally  pacified  by  the  king's  avowal 
of  his  innocence,  and  by  his  suggestion  to  arbitrate 
their  differences. 


112 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


!l 


Before  Laertes  can  fully  adjust  his  suspicions  of 
the  king,  he  is  all  but  distracted  at  seeing  his  sister 
enter,  singing  incoherent  songs  in  her  madness,  and  not 
even  recognizing  him.  The  sorrow  of  Ophelia's  disap- 
pointment has  borne  very  heavily  upon  her,  and  her 
mmd  has  become  distracted.  The  poor,  weak,  inno- 
cent girl,  in  trying  to  be  a  dutiful  daughter  had  become 
an  untrustworthy  lover,  and  now  she  is  out  of  her  mind. 
Hamlet's  behavior  toward  her  was  doubtless  severe, 
but  anything  else  would  have  been  unjust.  Though 
disappointed  and  distracted,  her  suffering  is  lessened 
by  the  thought  that  it  is  her  lover  who  is  "Like  sweet 
bells  jangled  out  of  tune  and  harsh." 

Hamlet  and  Laertes. 

Meanwhile  Horatio  has  had  a  letter,  and  the  king 
a  note,  from  Hamlet;  saying  that  he  has  returned  to 
Denmark.  It  is  only  in  the  last  act  of  the  play, 
however,  that  we  learn  the  whole  story,  when  Hamlet 
finds  time  and  occasion  to  narrate  it  carefully  to  Hora- 
tio. It  seems  that  the  ship  conveying  him  to  England 
was  attacked  by  pirates,  and  that  in  the  fight  he 
boarded  them,  and  later  induced  them  to  set  him  ashore 
in  Denmark,  leaving  Rosencrantz  and  Guildenstern  to 
continue  their  voyage  to  England.  He  expects  that 
the  report  of  what  happened  to  them  will  soon  reach 
Denmark  and  cause  him  further  trouble  with  the  king; 
and  he  therefore  feels  the  necessity  of  great  haste  if 
he  is  to  forestall  the  king  and  carry  out  his  plans. 

With  the  return  of  Hamlet  to  Denmark,  Laertes 
soon  learns  that  it  was  Hamlet  and  not  the  king  who 
had  killed  his  father.  The  king  eagerly  seizes  the  op- 
portunity to  transfer  the  quarrel  to  Hamlet,  and  very 
skillfully  arranges  a  duel  between  the  two  to  settle  their 


XUSifSSi  m^^iaij^  *SBB! '>1S2S 


Hamlet 


113 


grievances.  If  it  be  the  duty  of  Hamlet  to  avenge  the 
death  of  his  father,  it  is  scarcely  less  the  duty  of 
Laertes  to  avenge  the  death  of  Polonius.  The  king 
whets  the  wrath  of  Laertes  by  telling  him  that  Hamlet 
is  very  dangerous,  for 

"he  which  hath  your  noble  father  slain  ' 
Pursued  my  life." 

(IV.  vii.  4-5.) 

This  incenses  Laertes  the  more,  and  makes  him  very 
willing  to  attack  Hamlet.  He  accepts  with  eagerness 
the  king's  suggestion  of  a  duel  with  Hamlet,  and  like 
his  father  he  is  not  unwilling  to  use  foul  means.  The 
entire  Polonius  family  s  ;m  not  to  be  above  treachery 
and  deceit. 


VI 

Hamlet's  Return. 

Hamlet's  return  at  the  time  of  Laertes's  little  revolt 
leaver  the  impression  that  Denmark  was  now  ripe  for  a 
rebellion.  If  we  are  to  take  the  words  of  the  king,  no 
one  in  the  kingdom  was  so  well  beloved  as  Hamlet,  and 
hence  no  one  so  likely  to  be  successful  in  rebellion.  But 
casting  aside  this  temptation,  he  presents  himself  first 
in  the  churchyard,  where  he  discourses  wisdom  to  Ho- 
ratio and  the  grave-diggers.  Possibly  he  went  there 
to  mourn  over  his  father's  grave,  and  to  sorrow  over 
that  of  Polonius,  for  he  is  in  the  vicinity  of  the  latter 
when  the  burial  party  arrives.  Hamlet  is  shocked  to 
find  himself  present  at  the  funeral  of  "the  fair  Ophelia," 
and  to  notice  that  they  are  burying  her  with  "maimed 
rites,"  because,  as  he  hears  the  priest  say,  "Her 
death  was  doubtful."  These  things  had  been  told  him 
by  the  grave-digger,  but  he  had  not  suspected  they 


114 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


mi 


referred  to  Ophelia.  When  the  body  is  lowered  into  the 
grave,  Laertes  in  the  ecstasy  of  his  grief  leaps  in  to 
express  his  lasting  love  for  his  sister.  Then  Hamlet, 
feeling  that  his  love  for  her  is  greater  than  that  of 
forty  thousand  brothers,  also  leaps  into  the  grave  to 
show  his  affection.  Laertes,  however,  has  been  in- 
censed against  Hamlet  by  the  king,  and,  not  taking  his 
act  as  friendly,  grapples  with  him.  The  quick  passion 
of  the  prince  responds,  and  the  two  have  to  be  sep- 
arated by  attendants.  For  this  impetuosity  Hamlet 
suffered  deeply,  as  he  afterwards  explains  to  Horatio, 
saying : 

"I  am  very  sorry,  good  Horatio, 

That  to  Laertes  I  forgot  myself;  .  .  . 

But,  sure,  the  bravery  of  his  grief  did  put  me 

Into  a  towering  passion." 

(V.  ii.  75-80.) 

He  evidently  bore  no  ill-will  to  Laertes,  and  still  loved 
Ophelia.  But  the  incident  shows  his  tremendous  capa- 
bilities of  instant  action,  and  goes  to  disprove  any 
theory  that  assumes  in  him  any  weakness,  mental  or 
volitional. 

The  Dtiel — Hamlet  and  Laertes. 

When  they  met  for  the  duel,  Hamlet  made  haste  to 
assure  Laertes  of  his  love  and  good-will  by  offering 
ample  apology  for  his  impetuosity  at  the  grave  of 
Ophelia.  His  first  words  were  an  apology,  probably 
not  only  for  his  behavior  at  Ophelia's  grave,  but  also 
for  his  part  in  her  death  and  in  that  of  Polonius: 

"Give  me  your  pardon,  sir;  I've  done  you  wrong; 
But  pardon't,  as  you  are  a  gentleman." 

(V.  ii.  913-4.) 

Then  he  explains  that  he  was  suffering  from  much  dis- 
traction, and  that  if  he  had  wronged  Laertes  he  could 


^  .'m'^-isikk-^^iuem^^  -riefj?  i 


7».Ht'   VWSTL' 


Hamlet 


116 


not  have  been  in  his  proper  senses,  and  disclaims  any 
purposed  evil.  He  then  begs  him  in  the  most  cordial 
manner  to 

"Free  me  so  far  in  your  most  generous  thought*, 
That  I  have  shot  mine  arrow  o'er  the  house. 
And  hurt  my  brother." 

(V.  U.  299-8S1.) 

Laertes,  however,  refuses  all  reconcilement,  and  the 
incident  but  adds  fuel  to  his  burning  wrath.  He  has 
been  so  misled  and  incited  by  the  king  whose  perfidy 
had  suggested  the  duel  that  he  will  accept  no  explana- 
tion. He  gives  further  evidence  of  baseness  and  treach- 
ery in  his  willingness  to  accept  the  king's  suggestion  of 
poisoning  his  sword.  (IV.  vii.  135-140.)  But  the 
fates  are  i^ainst  Hamlet.  His  "towering  passion," 
growing  oat  of  the  very  intensity  of  his  purpose,  has 
twice  led  him  into  mistakes,  and  both  times  with  the 
Polonius  family, — ^first  with  the  father,  and  next  with 
the  son. 

Though  morally  justified  in  both  cases,  Hamlet 
scarcely  excused  himself,  for  he  had  no  will  to  perform 
the  part  of  the  "scourge  and  minister"  of  heaven. 
Hamlet,  however,  does  not  have  to  wait  long  for  his 
vindication^  When  in  the  duel  both  contestants  are 
mortaUy  wounded  by  the  poisoned  rapiers,  Laertes  at 
once  admits  his  guilt,  and  cries  out:  "I  am  justly 
kiU'd  with  mine  own  treachery."  (V.  ii.  294.)  Then, 
with  his  dying  breath  he  reveals  the  king's  part  in  the 
treacherous  deed,  and  begs  piteously, 

"Exchange   forgiveness  with  me^  noble  Hamlet.** 

(V.  U.  S16.) 

In  these  last  words  he  bears  full  testimony  to  the  purity 
and  unselfishness  of  Hamlet's  life,  and  absolves  him 
from  all  blame: 


n 


^^6  Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 

(V.  U.  S17-8.) 

The  Unmasking  of  the  King. 

It  was  only  in  the  duel  that  the  wicked  and  perfidious 
character  of  the  king  was  revealed,  and  his  dLbS 
HaX;  ^""^„"»";««ked.  Laertes  was  the  first  a  ter 
Hamlet  and  Horatio  to  recognize  the  real  character  of 
Uaudius.     As  soon  as  he  is  wounded  by  Hamlet  with 

b^forrh;''''fl?"^'l.'^P^'''  ^^''^  ''  **  °"^«  disclosed 
before  h  m  the  entire  course  of  events.     At  first  he 

wT  ^Tf  ^°^^- P-rt'  -nd  for  his  treachery,  say' 
ing  that  he  has  only  been  caught  in  his  own  trap,  and 

ent  by  the  death  of  the  queen  from  drinking  the  wine, 
he  IS  doubly  sure  of  th,  king's  guilt  for  the  whole  affair 
and  says  boldly,  "the  king's  to  blame."     When  the 

alJsavs?  ''  "*^''''  '**  ^'  *  J"^*  punishment 

"He  is  justly  served; 
It  is  a  poison  temper'd  by  himself" 
(V.  ii.  S14-5.)  ' 

HlIl!/?K°^i^''f?°".'*^''^  ^y  *^^  attendants  when 
Hamlet  stabs  the  king  is  at  once  silenced  by  the  words 
of  Laertes  justifying  Hamlet's  course.  Not  another 
word  IS  uttered  in  the  remainder  of  the  play  in  the 
king's  behalf.     It  took  only  a  word  from  LaVte/to 

3w«  ?y  u'*''  "^  ^^^"^^"^'  «"d  *°  P"t  his  at- 
tendants   and   followers    to    complete   silence.      There 

rT^,^  "^T  ^'^*  ""^^  ^^«  *  good  ^o'd  to  say  on 
his  behalf,  and  the  treachery  and  perfidy  of  his  life 
are  fully  accepted.  ^        ^ 

Nevertheless,  there  has  been  revealed  no  objective 
proof  of  the  king's  guilt  for  the  murder  of  his  brother. 


'!;-';i»w-*f*w»'sf<ft>3az?*i:"ii(^'-^' s''--3««v-*«x4r-'j  '■mmm'"u-  :-i«iso'w>.'v 


Hamlet 


117 


Hamlet  has  long  been  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the 
ghost's  words,  though  he  has  not  secured  any  evidence 
except  that  from  the  ghost  and  from  the  undoubted 
certainty  of  the  moral  baseness  of  Claudius  as  revealed 
chiefly  in  his  arrangement  and  management  of  the 
duel  with  Laertes.  The  cups  of  poisoned  wine,  intended 
for  Hamlet,  one  of  which  ciiused  the  death  of  the  queen, 
were  evidence  enough  of  his  unscrupulous  nature.  His 
corrupt  and  immoral  character  was  proven  beyond  any 
doubt,  though  with  his  death  he  carried  away  all  traces 
of  the  objective  evidence  that  Hamlet  had  wanted  for 
the  murder  of  his  father.  The  death  that  seized  him 
was  accepted  as  a  just  retribution  for  his  crimes,  and 
for  the  baseness  of  his  character,  and  he  died  under 
the  unanimous  condemnation  of  all  the  persons  of  the 
drama. 

Haitdefs  Purposes — Horatio. 

The  life  task  of  Hamlet,  imposed  on  him  by  the  ghost, 
is  fulfilled  even  in  his  death.  The  death  of  the  king 
leaves  him  with  only  one  dying  wish,  that  his  purposes 
may  be  explained  to  the  people,  lest  he  should  be  left 
with 

"a  wounded  name. 
Things  standing  thus  unknown." 

(V.  11.  831-9.) 

This  dying  request,  then,  he  leaves  with  his  one  tried 
and  true  friend,  Horatio,  begging  him  to  show  the  peo- 
ple the  reason  of  his  conduct: 

"report  me  and  my  cause  aright 
To  the  unsatisfied." 

(V.  11.  S36-T.) 

Horatio,  however,  is  unwilling  to  live  after  Hamlet 
has  died,  and,  saying  he  is  more  like  an  antique  Roman 


,  S^T J  _-=r.^'.  .^-S^fiST  •■Bil'TSPiJ 


MX 


rzi^'ii. 


118 


Handetf  an  Ideal  Prince 


than  II  Dane,  he  tries  to  drink  the  poisoned  wine.  His 
fnendship  for  Hamlet  is  so  strong  that  he  wants  to 
die  with  him.  But  Hamlet  seizes  the  cup,  and  restrains 
him,  begging  him  to  live  and  devote  his  life  to  a  vindi- 
cation of  Hamlet's  course.  With  the  earnestness  bom 
of  a  conviction  that  his  cause  was  just,  and  his  devotion 
to  his  task  unselfish,  he  beseeches  Horatio : 

"If  thou  didst  ever  hold  me  In  thy  heart. 
Absent  thee  from  felicity  awhile, 
And  in  this  harsh  world  draw  thy  breath  in  pain. 
To  tell  my  story."  *^ 

(V.  ii.  333-6.) 

The  friendship  of  Hamlet  and  Horatio  is  one  of  the 
finest  in  literature.     Without  fully  understanding  his 
plans  until  afterward,  Horatio  trusted  Hamlet  and  was 
true  to  him.     He  seemed  to  understand  him  when  no 
one  else  did.     He  was  his  true  friend  in  life  and  in 
death,  and  after  he  is  gone  he  speaks  on  behalf  of  his 
fair  name.     Horatio  had  the  fine  moral  character  to 
appreciate   the   noble  purposes    and   splendid   life   of 
Hamlet,  devoted  as  it  was  to  his  filial  and  patriotic 
duty,  and  whose  life  purposes  needed  only  to  be  known 
to  be  approved.    Horatio  accepts  the  task  of  reporting 
him  anght,  and  disclosing  the  secrets  that  could  only 
be  revealed  after  his  death.     As  Hamlet  breathes  his 
last,  he  corroborates  his  words,  and  bears  eloquent  tes- 
timony to  the  uprightness  and  nobility  of  his  friend: 

"Now  cracks  a  noble  heart.-Good  night,  sweet  prince. 
And  flights  of  angels  sing  thee  to  thy  rest!" 

(V.  ii.  346-7.) 

Fortmhras  as  Next  King. 

Hamlet  lived  and  died  solely  for  Denmark.     He  did 
not  regard  his  own  life,  but  always  thought  of  the 


Hamlet 


119 


good  of  his  country.    As  he  is  pleading  with  Horatio 
to  explain  his  cause  to  the  people,  the  announcement 
18  made  of  the  approach  of  young  Fortinbras  on  his 
return  from  Poland.    Once  more,  then,  and  as  the  last 
actor  in  the  drama,  this  young  warrior  is  brought  upon 
the  stage.     He  is  very  difFerrnt  in  character  from  his 
cousin  Hamlet,  and  is  the  type  of  self-regarding  ambi- 
tion, who  is  willing  to  make  war  and  lose  thousands  of 
men  m  order  to  gain  territory  that  adds  to  him  nothing 
bjl  a  name.    He  is  not,  however,  of  the  criminal  type 
of  Claudius,  but  possesses  many  barbaric  virtues.    As  a 
cousin  of  Hamlet's,  though  much  less  excellent,  he  is 
now   the  nearest   to  the  throne   and   recognizes  some 
rights  in  the  kingdom. 

With  his  dying  words,  then,  Hamlet  speaks  on  behalf 
of  Fortinbras.  Apparently  he  wants  the  succession 
settled  that  the  country  may  go  forward  in  peace.  In 
order  to  secure  this,  then,  he  gives  his  voice  for  the 
election,  saying,  "I  do  prophesy  the  election  lights  On 
Fortinbras."  (V.  ii.  342-3.)  On  hxs  part  Fortinbras 
accepts  the  advantage  his  kinship  and  the  voice  of  Ham- 
let i^ve  him,  saying,  "with  sorrow  I  embrace  my  for- 
tune." Horatio,  sharing  in  the  peaceable  spirit  of 
Hamlet,  and  fearing  a  possible  disturbance,  urges  the 
immediate  accession,  "lest  more  mischance.  On  plots 
and  errors  happen."  Fortinbras  then  accepts  the  king- 
dom, and  closes  the  play  by  pronouncing  a  brief  but 
noble  panegyric  over  the  body  of  Hamlet : 

"Let  four  captains 
Bear  Hamlet,  like  a  soldier,  to  the  stage; 
For  he  was  likely,  had  he  been  put  on. 
To  have  proved  most  royaUy;  and,  for  his  passajre. 
The  sol  iiers'  music  and  the  rites  of  war 
Speak  .judly  for  him. — " 

(V.  U.  382-7.) 


r -fflf-  *'«ww*^ 


-Mr-tMMLr!S\=. 


120 


Hamlett  an  Ideal  Prince 


▼n 

Hamlet,  a  Deliverer. 

The  success  that  has  attended  Hamlet's  efforts 
proves  him  to  be  a  deliverer  of  his  country,  as  in  the 
earber  versions  of  Saxo  and  Bellcforest.  He  has  rid 
his  country  of  the  corruption  and  criminality  of 
Claudius  without  instigating  a  civil  war,  or  causing 
the  death  of  any  innocent  person  but  himself.  He  has 
refrained  from  the  course  of  the  vindictive  Laertes 
of  stirring  up  an  internal  insurrection,  and  has  sacri- 
ficed only  himself  to  his  country's  welfare.  The  coun- 
•  try  has  not  been  put  into  such  turmoil  and  revolution 
OS  to  mvite  an  attack  from  the  ambitious  Fortinbras. 
The  crown  of  Denmark  has  passed  peaceably  to  his 
royal  kinsman,  Fortinbras,  and  Denmark  goes  on  to- 
ward her  national  destiny. 

Hamlet  has  tiiumphed,  therefore,  even  in  his  death. 
He  has  revenged  the  murder  of  his  father,  but  several 
other  persons  have  also  lost  their  lives.  This  he  verv 
much  regretted,  for  he  tried  to  strike  only  the  king. 
He  has,  however,  accomplished  his  task  without  caus- 
ing war,  and  has  discharged  his  duty  both  to  his  parent 
and  to  his  country.  AH  his  plans  have  been  realized, 
except  his  indifferent  desire  to  become  king,  which  he 
readily  sacrificed  to  his  larger  duty.  If  any  justifica- 
tion of  his  course  of  conduct  is  necessary,  this  will 
be  undertaken  by  Horatio.  Knowing  Hamlet's  con- 
cern for  his  good  name,  Horatio  says  he  will 

"speak  to  the  yet  unknowing  world 
How  these  things  came  about;  so  shall  you  hear 
Of  carnal,  bloody,  and  unnatural  acts. 
Of  accidental  judgments,  casual  slaughters. 
Of  deaths  put  on  by  cunning,  and  forced  cause, 


':'j  :-.'"^iL, 


Hamlet 

i^_..!?  on.  the  inventors'  tieads.    AU  thl«  can  I 


Ifl 


Truly  deliver." 


(V.  U.  366^73.) 


The  death  of  Hamlet  marks  the  extinction  of  the 
d.rect  royal  hnc  of  Denmark.    Ulrici  suggests  that  th  ! 

state      By  h,s  devotion  he  saved  the  state  from  beinir 
wrecked  by  h.s  uncle's  crimes,  but  in  the  very  naJirf 

doer '"^Tho'  '""^^  "r'  '^T  '''^''  ^'™-^^  «'  the  wro^^ 
doer.     The  over-ru hng  Providence,  that  is  felt  ever?- 

triT  :•  ^^"\  'I  ^'^''''  "°*  '"  *h^  extinction  of 
Iron  "7  ^"^!;  *?"*  T  *^^  deliverance  from  one  great 
wrong-doer,  and  m  the  continuance  of  the  state  in 
pea^ce,  though   in  the  hands   of  another  but  rellted 

The  Character  of  Hamlet. 

Dla?tC/ H^'^?t^^  unanimity  among  students  of  the 
play  that  Hamlet  is  the  most  intellectual  character  in 
the  entire  Shakespearean  drama.     Of  the  play  Rapp 

aSTrl  -^f  ^  "t  'i'  P°^**'^  ^^'^'>  and  i/deedTf 
all  works  m  the  world,  Hamlet  appears  to  me  to  be  the 

richest  m  thought  and  the  profoundest."  ^     Stedefeld 

says  of  the  prince  that  he  is  «an  intellectual  hero,  a 

ritan,  who  IS  far  above  his  whole  surroundings,  ris  ng 

thus  above  them  by  insight,  learning,  culturef ;isdom! 

and  knowledge  of  men  and  the  world."  2     No  other 

character  brings  such  a  wealth  of  intellect,  such  a  well- 

tramed  mmd,  such  profundity  of  thought  to  the  solu- 

'  Eng.  trans,  in  Furness,  II..  n. 
'/fetU,  p.  343.  *      'V 


un 


Hamlett  an  Ideal  Princt 


tion  of  the  problem  which  the  courie  of  life  and  of  the 
%ur\d  present  to  him.  He  is  in  every  way  a  deep 
Kcholar  nnd  a  philosopher;  and  the  unschooled  Shake- 
speare shows  his  abiding  respect  for  learning  in  making 
this  scholar  from  Wittenberg  the  brightest  mind 
among  all  the  brilliant  wits  of  his  stage. 

The  persons  of  the  drama  and  the  readers  of  the  play 
unite  in  proclaiming  Hamlet  also  a  most  noble  char- 
acter. The  difficulties  that  appear  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  play  are  intellectual,  not  moral.  There  is 
difficulty  in  understanding  the  problem  presented  to 
his  mind,  but  there  is  practical  agreement  on  the  ex- 
cellence of  his  character.  Critics  have  vied  with  one 
another  to  praise  his  noble  personality.  Goethe  calls 
him  "a  beautiful,  pure,  and  most  moral  nature." 
Campbell  speaks  of  him  a-  "so  ideal,  and  yet  so  real 
an  existence.'*  Stedefeld  says,  "Hamlet  is,  according 
to  the  intention  of  the  poet,  in  his  whole  bearing  a 
noble,  manly,  chivalrous  presence,  with  moral  and  re- 
ligious feeling."  Professor  Dowden  says  that  "One 
of  the  deepest  characteristics  of  Hamlet's  nature  is  a 
longing  for  sincerity,  for  truth  in  mind  and  manners, 
an  aversion  for  all  that  is  false,  affected,  or  exagger- 
ated." For  this  reason  the  play  is  sometimes  spoken 
of  as  "a  tragedy  of  moral  idealism."  But  it  is  a  trag- 
edy that  is  at  the  same  time  a  triumph. 

Hamlet  is  distinguished  among  the  characters  of 
Shakespeare  as  the  one  pre-eminent  for  taking  always 
the  moral  point  of  view.  To  all  the  other  characters 
of  the  play  he  appears  as  a  sort  of  moral-sense.  Look- 
ing into  his  noble  countenance  they  all  became  con- 
scious of  their  wrong-doings.  The  king  is  convicted 
of  his  crimes  by  the  very  presence  of  Hamlet.  Polonius 
sees  himself  as  a  crafty  trickster  and  moral  idiot.    The 


HamUt 


1SS 


queen  is  conscience-stricken  when  her  son  speaks  to 
her  and  exclaims: 

"Thou  turn'st  mine  eyes  into  my  very  toul. 
And  there  I  see  luch  blacic  and  grained  spots 
As  win  not  leave  their  tinct.  *^ 

(III.  iv.  W-81.) 

'^here  arc  no  persons  of  the  drama  but  realize  his 
c-cellencc,  and  in  his  presence  are  conscious  of  his 
goodness.  It  is  he  that  brings  the  king  to  confess  in 
his  sohloquy  the  blackness  of  his  deed,  though  he  stifles 
his  conscience,  and  docs  not  declare  his  crime.  And  at 
the  close  of  the  play,  all  who  survive  unite  in  praise 
of  his  nobility. 

Justice  cannot  be  done  to  Hamlet  without  the  mention 
of  his  religious  spirit.  The  very  fact  that  he  has  an 
apparition  of  his  father's  spirit  reveals  a  belief  in  an- 
other world.  Hamlet  is  an  idealist,  and  explains  every- 
thing to  himself  in  terms  of  spirit.  It  is  by  a  visita- 
tion of  a  spirit  from  the  other  world  that  he  gets  his 
life  task,  according  to  which  he  governs  all  his  conduct. 
<!\d  he  is  not  the  fatalist  Professor  Bradley  thinks 
he  is,  for  his  life  is  not  the  self-abandonment  that  ap- 
pears in  his  theory.  He  is  quite  capable  of  taking 
"arms  against  a  sea  of  troubles,"  and  still  thinks  that 
Providence  over-rules  our  plans  for  the  larger  good. 
It  was  after  he  had  exerted  himself  most  strenuously 
in  the  direction  of  his  own  affairs  and  had  turned  his 
banishment  to  England  against  his  persecutors,  that 
he  says, 

"There's  a   divinity  that   shapes  our  ends, 
Rough-!iew  them  how  we  will." 

(V.  li    10-11.) 

Hamlet  lived  his  entire  life  in  tins  moral  and  reli- 
gious spirit.     All  the  qualities  he  admired  and  sought 


j"Mt]s  :  *jjf  tt 


fMt^tJXiT, 


124 


Hnmiet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


i  - 


were  qualities  of  mind  and  soul.     He  did  not  care  for 
place  or  distinction,   and   would   not   allow   his   com- 
panions to  call  themselves  his  servants,  but  insisted  on 
calling  them  friends.     He  hated  shams  and  pretences, 
and  loved  sincerity  and  honesty  of  character.    He  had 
no  false  notions  of  royal  dignity,  and  did  not  hesitate 
to  love  the  daughter  of  the  royal  steward.     He  did 
not  care  for  position,  and  had  no  laments  for  himself 
that  he  did  not  attain  to  the  crown.     He  revered  only 
moral  and  spiritual  qualities  in  men,  and  worshipped 
God  as  the  father  of  his  spirit.     He  made  the  best  of 
this  lie,  and  believed  there  was  a  better  one  to  come. 
No  character  in  all  Shakespeare  is  so  much  an  idealist. 
In  the  sordid  cor^iitions  of  his  times,  he  lived  entirely 
in  the  ideal  world,  and  at  the  last  sacrificed  his  life 
to  gain  an  ideal  end.     He  is  at  once  the  most  intel- 
lectual, the  most  moral,  the  most  truly  religious,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  most  heroic  character  in  Shake- 
speare. 

Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Shakespeare  intended 
Hamlet  to  embody  his  ideal  of  the  noble  and  patriotic 
prince.  He  had  previously  depicted  from  English  his- 
tory all  sorts  of  princes  and  kings,  and  had  found  a 
noble  prince  in  Henry  the  Fifth.  Both  Hamlet  and 
Henry  are  distinguished  by  their  lofty  and  intelligent 
patriotism,  though  Hamlet  is  much  the  finer  and  nobler 
character.  Henry  was  conscientious,  but  not  so  self- 
sacrificing.  He  was  noble,  but  not  distinguished  by 
great  intelligence.  He  lacked  Hamlet's  intensity  of 
moral  conviction  and  his  profundity  of  thought.  The 
dramatist  could  find  his  perfect  ideal  only  in  a  legen- 
dary character,  where  his  own  imagination  could  work 


^%^'-.  ''^''fm.-^^^'^j 


^TlP^T^rf^ 


Harriet 


1S5 


upon  his  hero.  This  he  might  have  found  in  Arthur, 
but  he  preferred  to  take  a  story  already  dramatized 
and  Picked  out  Hamlet,  Prince  of  Denma^rV.  ^^''^ 

In  the  Enghsh  historical  plays  he  'ad  ju.f  written 
the  dramatist  found  in  all,  with  or.  exceptior  the 
stories  of  base  ambition  and  vulgar  ),  :t  for  r  wer 
He  had  just  concluded  his  studies  ..'  che  U^k 
bloody  struggle  between  Lancaster  and  York,  Umt 
nating  in  the  brutal  reign  of  Richard  the  ThirdT  Ws 
one  Ideal  villain.  With  the  exception  of  Henry  th 
fifth  these  rulers  were  ever  ready  at  anv  time  to 
punge  their  country  into  war,  and^o  keep^itTrug" 
phng  for  generations  in  the  hope  of  realizing  thefr 
own  personal  ambitions.  They  had  never  confidered 
thcr  country,  but  were   always   ready  for   civil  wir 

thei^orgwV^  *'"^  ^^^  ^"^  ^^'"^^  *^  ^'^^^- 

But  Hamlet  is  a  prince  of  another  sort.  As  in 
Saxo  and  Belleforest,  and  as  well  in  the  German  play 
h.s  chief  thought  was  for  his  country.  He  would 
rather  endure  the  ills  he  had  than  involve  his  country 
in  bloody  civil  strife,  or  invite  the  armed  intervention 
of  a  foreign  prince.  Though  his  uncle  Claudius  was  a 
corrupt  and  demoralizing  influence  in  the  state,  Hamlet 

try  to  dethrone  him  by  armed  force.     He  therefore 

and  trttTrrr   °^  TT^^^^^^"^  "^^  ™°-l  t-k 
and  trusts  to  the  moral  character  of  fate  to  find  a 

way  to  avenge  his  father  and  deliver  his  country     His 

mora     aith  did  not  in  the  end  miscarry,  TndY;  li"d 

to  see  the  murG».rer  and  tyrant  punished  and  his  own 

course  vindicated.     As  a  true  patriot  he  did  not  count 

his  own  hfe  at  a  pin's  fee  when  the  moral  fate  of  hi 

country  was  at  stake.     He  was  satisfied   to  see  the 


w^i^^EKmKarsm^'^'.jmik^'  ^^as^ 


iv:s^^I-5^«::4i 


126 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


crown  pass  peaceably  to  the  head  of  one  no  less 
worthy  than  his  kinsman  Fortinbras  of  Norway. 
Under  him  the  two  rival  nations  could  unite,  and  peace 
would  be  maintained. 


^•-r-  m 

Jiii  -  '■' 

f      ^H 

■IWial 

I^^H 

JH^^Hs^ 

M'  "'  ■  ■ 

Iffli 

I^^H 

m^HWe 

11 

■ 

ess 

ICC 


THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE: 
OB  Shakespeare's  chbistian  and  jew 


u    ^iKi'«iWE* 


'^mmtT'^. 


:jif.y-mti 


.'I' 

hi, 

[I 

k 


1 

1 

^■asrMTSS 


CHAPTER    III 

THE  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE: 
OR  Shakespeare's  christian  and  t^w 


IT  IS  becoming  quite  obvious  to  students  that  we 
have  been  m  danger  of  losing  Shakespeare  as  an 
Ehzabethan  dramatist,  and  have  not  entirely  suc- 
ceeded m  making  h.m  a  modern  dramatist.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  succeeding  ages  have  developed  mean- 
3  fr,'"*"^  of  the  plays  that  would  have  been  incon- 
ceivable for  an  Elizabethan  dramatist  and  unacceptable 
to  an  Elizabethan  audience.    The  interest  of  the  theatre 

«h;A  K  ""'^IJ^^™  i"t°  -nodern  plays,  and  scholar- 
sh  p  has  been  unable  to  interpret  them  for  us  as  Eliza- 
bethan. But  one  benefit  of  the  Shakespeare  revival 
and  of  modern  scholarship  has  doubtless  been  a  more 
adequate  conception  of  Elizabethan  conditions,  and 
hence  a  better  understanding  of  Shakespeare  as  a 
dramatist  of  his  own  age.  Shakespeare  no  doubt 
addressed  himself  to  his  own  times  and  presented  a 
message  to  his  contemporaries,  but  that  message  has  in 
many  cases  been  lost  to  our  age.  To  rediscover  that 
message  and  to  determine  its  value  for  us  is  a  worthy 
task  for  modern  scholarship. 

No  play,  perhaps,  more  than  The  Merchant  of 
Urnce  has  been  subject  to  this  modernizing  spirit, 
for  Its  dramatic  excellence  has  kept  it  almost  continu- 

120 


ir'?i>'5''#-vi 


ISO 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


ouslj  on  the  stage.  Though  a  valuable  play  in  its 
modern  form,  it  is  important  that  we  should  not  lose 
its  original  significance.  In  its  present  rendering  the 
play  has  ceased  almost  completely  to  be  a  story  of 
Antonio,  the  Merchant  of  Venice,  and  has  become  the 
story  of  Shylock,  the  Jew  of  Venice,  and  the  misfor- 
tunes that  befell  him.  "In  this  way,"  as  Mr.  Poel  has 
said,  Shylock  "becomes  tragic,  and,  contrary  to  the 
dramatist's  intention,  is  made  the  leading  part."  ^ 
The  play  is,  then,  sadly  in  need  of  a  new  study,  and  of 
a  reconstruction  in  the  light  of  what  we  now  know  of 
the  Elizabethan  mind  and  conditions. 

The  criticism  of  the  play  has  from  the  first  re- 
volved about  the  person  and  character  of  Shylock, 
and  has  in  large  measure  been  determined  by  the  atti- 
tude of  earh  age  toward  the  Jews.  Racial  and  re- 
ligious prejudices  have  taken  the  place  of  candid  study 
of  the  play,  and  Shakespeare  has  become  to  one  gen- 
eration a  Jew-baiter  and  to  the  next  a  Jew-apologist. 
For  the  first  two  centuries  after  Shakespeare,  Shy- 
lock was  universally  condemned  and  execrated,  and 
the  play  was  considered  a  keen  arraignment  of  the 
character  and  practices  of  the  Jewish  race.  With  the 
lapse  of  time,  however,  and  with  a  more  enlightened 
opinion  of  the  Jews,  people  began  to  see  in  the  play 
a  great  plea  for  the  persecuted  Jew,  and  a  condem- 
nation of  Christian  prejudice  and  malice.  Christians 
now  have  come  to  sympathize  with  Shylock,  and  Jews 
repudiate  him  as  a  representative  of  their  race. 
These  two  types  of  interpretation  now  exist  side  by 
side,  and  no  one  can  assure  us  of  the  real  meaning 
of  the  play.  May  it  not  be,  therefore,  that  there  is 
truth  in  both  views,  and  that  the  present  task  of  the 
*Shak0»pear»  in  the  Theatre,  by  W.  Pod,  p.  70.    London,  If  '8. 


^^-^tk<m^i^}  k&lZADi 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  131 

critic  is  to  extract  that  truth,  and  to  assign  to  each 
view  its  value  and  its  Hmitations? 


n 


There  can  be  little  doubt  that  *->  Elizabethan  audi- 
ences generally  Shylock  was  an  object  of  condemna- 
lon  and  execration.  It  was  the  fashion  of  the  times 
to  despise  the  Jews,  and  to  hold  them  up  to  scorn, 
as  Marlowe  did  in  The  Jew  of  Malta.  Audiences 
were  filled  with  prejudices  against  them,  and  greatly 
enjoyed  the  spectacle  of  a  Jew  abused  on  the  stage. 
It  IS  pretty  generally  admitted  now  by  scholars  that 
Jews  on  the  stage  were  looked  upon  as  comic  person- 
ages, and  that  they  would  be  greeted  with  laughter 
and  scorn.  1  The  element  of  tragedy  in  such  plays 
seems  to  have  escaped  the  audient  3s  entirely. 

Shakespeare's  play,  therefore,  at  once  suggests  it- 
self to  us  as  an  attempt  to  better  and  perhaps  to 
correct  the  interpretation  of  Jewish  character  pre- 
sented by  Marlowe  in  his  play.  Marlowe  at  this  time 
was  Shakespeare's  greatest  dramatic  rival,  though  he 
had  died  probably  four  or  five  years  before  Shakespeare 
produced  The  Merchant  of  Venice.  His  work,  how- 
ever, had  surpassed  that  of  all  other  dramatists,  and 
now  Shakespeare  was  chaUenging  his  supremacy. 
Shakespeare's  Merchant  of  Venice,  then,  was  sure  to 
invite  comparison  with  Marlowe's  Jew  of  Malta,  and 
with  the  interpretation  of  Jewish  character  there 
presented. 

At  this  time  the  law  did  not  permit  Jews  to  reside 
m  England,  though  a  few  of  them  were  actually  there. 
London  ^1902^^^'    H^««on»    Shakespeare,    English    trans.,    p.    164, 


132 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


It  might  be  supposed,  therefore,  that  neither  of  the 
dramatists  reallj  had  a  chance  to  understand  the 
Jewish  character,  and  that  whatever  they  had  to  say 
would  be  largely  a  matter  of  hearsay  and  prejudice. 
The  Jews  of  the  present  day  certainly  resent  having 
Shylock  regarded  as  a  typical  Jew,  and  insist  that 
he  IS  but  a  caricature  o*  the  real  Jew.  However  it 
may  be  in  the  matter  of  individual  character,  there  is 
less  reason  to  resent  Shakespeare's  interpretation  of 
the  Jewish  system  of  thought,  as  seen  in  Shylock. 

Some  recent  writers  have  felt  convinced  that  Shake- 
speare fully  shared  with  his  audience  this  prejudice 
against  the  Jews,  and  that  in  his  play  he  meant  to 
ridicule  and  execrate  Shylock.  These  convictions  hav 
been  voiced  by  Professor  Stoll  in  a  recent  paper  in 
which  he  sums  up  the  matter  in  these  words:  "Bv 
all  the  devices  of  Shakespeare's  dramaturgy,  then, 
Shylock  is  proclaimed,  as  by  the  triple  repetition  of 
a  crier,  to  be  the  villain,  a  comic  villain,  though,  or 
butt.  ...  A  miser,  a  money-lender,  a  Jew, — all  these 
three  had  from  time  immemorial  been  objects  of  popu- 
lar detestation  and  ridicule,  whether  in  life  or  on  the 
stage."  ^ 

There  is  no  doubt  that  this  is  the  light  in  which 
Shakespeare  makes  Shylock  appear  to  the  other  per- 
sons of  the  drama,  particularly  to  Antonio  and  his 
friends.  But  how  far  this  reflects  the  prejudices  of 
the  age,  and  how  far  the  dramatist  himself  shared  in 
these  prejudices  must  be  sought  outside  the  matter 
of  the  play.  On  the  strength  of  the  play  alone  Shake- 
speare cannot  be  charged  with  the  blind  and  passionate 
bigotry  all  but  universal  in  his  day.     He  really  had 

'"Shylock,"  article  in  Journal  of  EngU^ih  and  Germanic  Phi- 
lology, X.  2.     1911,  p.  244, 


*b2^- 


trn^fwr 


LfJ^S 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  133 

no  share  in  this  Jewish  hatred,  and  rose  far  above 
the  common  level  of  such  vulgar  prejudice.  A  com- 
panson  of  h  ,  Shylock  with  Marlowe's  Burahas,  or 
with  any  other  Jew  of  the  earlier  drama,  reveals  an 

v^?""^  f/-.*?^  ^'«°*^^'  *"^  ^•«'''«*'^-«  «  n^w  and 
better  attitude  toward  the  Jews.  A\\  critics  have 
noticed  that  his  Jew  is  a  man  and  not  a  monster,  a 
human  being  and  not  a  fiend.  H".  pluy  may  be  in 
some  measure  a  protest  against  su.  h  caricatures  of 
the  Jews. 

During  the  two  centuries  following  Shakespeare  the 
same  racial  and  religious  antipathies  continued,  and 
are  reflected  m  the  attitude  of  the  public  and  of  the 
cntics  toward  Shakespeare's  play.  It  was  all  but 
universally  thought  that  the  dramatist  was  endeavoring 
merely  to  "hold  the  Jew  up  to  detestation,"  glorying 
m  the  discomfiture  of  Shylock,  and  rejoicing  in  his 
enforced  conversion  to  Christianity.  It  was  conceded, 
however,  that  as  usual  Shakespeare  took  higher  ground 
than  that  of  the  traditional  Jew-baiter,  and  raised 
his  victim  quite  above  the  current  notion  of  Jewish 
depravity. 

The  beginning  of  an  entirely  new  attitude  toward 
the  play  may  be  noticed  near  the  end  <  '^  the  eighteenth 
century  Reversing  all  former  opinion,  actors  and 
critics  began  to  think  that  instead  of  a  Jew-baiter, 
bhakespeare  was  in  reality  a  Jew-apologist.  They 
maintained  that  he  intended  to  portray  in  Shylock  a 
great  representative  of  his  race,  one  who  appeared  as 
Its  advocate,  avenger,  and  martyr,  only  bettering  the 
Chnstian  example,  and  exposing  the  shamelessness  of 
the  Christians  by  turning  their  practices  upon  them- 
selves. 

This  view  appears  to  have  been  set  forth  first  in 


^1 


m 


t-:l 


f  w^mim'kmsfm.maiLi^.  mir^;^"^ 


"^-  ^  ^T^-  v^^w^w^em 


184 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Furncss 
says:  "Chronologu-ally,  the  earliest  voice,  as  far  as  I 
know,  which  was  raised  u\  defence  of  Shylock  and  in 
denunciation  of  the  illegality  of  his  defeat  is  that  of 
an  Anonymous  Contributor  to  a  volume  of  Esaays  h?j 
a  Society  of  Gentlemen  at  Exeter,  printed  in  1792. 
The  Essay  is  called  'An  Apology  for  the  Charact<  r 
and  Conduct  of  Shylock,*  and  is  signed  'T.  O.' "  The 
Essayist  admits  that  Shylock  is  cruel,  but  pleads 
that  he  was  made  so  by  ill-treatment,  and  goes  on  to 
deplore  "the  lax  state  of  morality"  that  has  always 
accepted  the  verdict  of  the  unjust  trial  without  an 
instance  of  censure  or  of  unfavorable  sentiment.^ 

Public  sentiment  began  to  turn  in  Shylock's  favor, 
however,  as  Fumess  says,  only  "when  Edmund  Kean, 
in  1814,  revealed  a  Jew  almost  more  sinned  against 
than  sinning,  and  one  who  simply  bettered  the  instruc- 
tion of  Christian  example."  ^  It  tppears  further  that 
"Campbell  in  1883,  was  the  fir»t  among  Editors  to 
maintain  openly  that  Shylock  was  an  ill-used  man,  with 
nothing  unnatural  in  his  character,  and  that  he  was 
overcome  'only  by  a  legal  quibble.'  "  ^  jj,  ^j^^  ^^^  ^^^_ 
turies  since  Eh'-^abeth,  human  sympathies  had  broad- 
ened, and  as  Brandes  puts  it,  "In  the  humaner  view  of 
a  later  age  Shylock  appears  as  a  half-pathetic  creation, 
a  scapegoat,  a  victim."  * 

The  most  recent  advocate  of  this  very  modern  view 
says  that  The  Merchant  of  Venice  is  an  "example  of 
a  masked  design,  of  a  subtly  disguised  purpose. 
There  was  one  drama  which  jibed  at  the  Jew — and 
defended  him;   one  which  exposed  his   inhumanity — 

*  Furness,  Variorum  Merchant  of  Venice,  pp.  403-4. 
*Ibid.,  p.  408.  ^ 
'Ibid.,  p.  405. 

*  WilUom  Shakespeare,  p.  164. 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  185 

and  his  human  feehn^;  one  which  revealed  him  as 
pitiless— and  an  object  of  pity;  one  which  showed  the 
iniquity  he  dealt  out  to  others— and  the  iniquity 
dealt  out  to  h,m."  This  interpretation  of  the  play 
makes  it  Shakespeare's  grand  plea  for  tolerance,  and 
the  most  stupendous,  the  most  remorseless  satire 
.  .  .  against  the  extremes  and  follies  of  his  age  "  ^ 

While  it  may  be  admitted  that  this  modern  attitude 
displays  a  commendable  advance  in  human  sympathy, 
It  cannot  pass  as  an  interpretation  of  the  play.  There 
IS  nothing  convincing  about  any  of  these  views  that 
make  the  dramatist  a  preacher  of  tolerance  or  an  advo- 
cate of  any  sect  or  creed.  Nothing  has  appeared  in 
any  of  the  recent  discussions  of  the  play  to  make  it 
necessary  to  differ  from  the  opinion  of  Professor 
Ward,  uttered  now  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago: 
It  IS,  I  am  convinced,  only  modern  readers  and  modern 
actors  who  suppose  that  Shakespeare  consciously  in- 
tended to  arouse  the  sympathy  of  his  audience  on  be- 
half of  the  Jew."  » 

These  widely  divergent  views  appear  to  be  reflections 
of  the  spirit  of  the  Elizabethan  and  Victorian  ages 
respectively,  rather  than  interpretations  of  the  play 
itself.  On  the  strength  of  the  play  it  is  not  necessary 
to  accuse  Shakespeare  of  all  the  anti-Jewish  prejudices 
of  his  age,  such  as  were  in  evidence  in  the  trial  and 
condemnation  of  Dr.  Lopez  in  1594,  only  a  few  years 
before  he  wrote  his  play.  Nor  is  it  possible,  on  the 
strength  of  the  play  alone,  to  maintain  that  Shake- 
speare was  an  apologist  of  Shylock  the  Jew,  and  a 
satirist  of  Antonio  the  Christian.     The  dramatist  no- 

»J.  Cuming  Walters,  "The  Jew  that   Shakespeare  Drew."  in 
Shakespearean  Addrestes,  pp.  269-270,  274.    London,  1912 

Htstory  of  Engluh  Dramatic  Literature,  1. 189.    London.  1875. 


186 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


m 


wfure  else  ha«  r.l.iytd  the  r«*)le  of  ttccu«er  or  ndvocato 
of  any  MpormI  creed  or  religion  or  politic*,  or  of  any 
particular  «ect  or  race  or  party,  and  it  i*  too  much 
to  ask  U8  to  admit  it  in  connection  with  thin  plav. 
No  .uccessful  attempt  has  ever  been  made  to  enlist 
lum  in  anj  school  or  church  or  party.  He  everv- 
where  plays  a  much  larger  role  than  either  accuser  or 
defender  prosecutor  or  advocate.  He  seems  to  be 
above  all  such  dissensions  and  divisions  that  separate 
men,  like  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth, 

"holding  no  form  ot  creed. 
But  contemplating  all." 

If  Shakespeare   is   as  great   and  original   in  power 
of  thought  as  admittedly  he  is  in  dramatic  skill,  we 
must  learn  to  interpret  him  not  by  his  age,  nor  by  our 
age    but  by  himself.      So  little  do  we  know  of  hfs  life, 
and  so  meagre  are   the  accounts  by   his   friends   and 
contemporaries  of  what  manner  of  man  he  was,  that 
there  is  little  certain  reflection  of  his  thought  in  any- 
thing but  his  written  work.     It  is  in  his  poems  and 
plays  alone  that  we  can,  at  this  day,  find  any  evidence 
that  Shakespeare  unlocked  either  his  heart  or  his  mind. 
Our  first  duty,  then,  toward  this  play  is  to  discard  as 
far  8^  »o  may  our  own  opinions  of  Shylock  as  a  man 
and  a  ..cw,  and  of  Antonio  as  a  man  and  a  Christian, 
and   let   the   words   of  the   play   creep   into   our  ears 
and  see  if  the  dramatist  does  not  make  harmony  out 
of  the  many  discordant  notes  of  the  various   stories 
that  he  incorporated  into  this  great  drama. 

in 

Hints,  but  only  hints,  of  the  dramatist's  meaning 
may   bo   derived   from   a    study   of   the    material    with 


■':385^^^  ^:^iwmm 


Thf  Mervhoiit  of  Vcmce  187 

trucUd  hi«  play.     Hi*  method  of  ImndlinK  »",  mu- 
term,  and  the  result  of  hin  art  in  the  hnishfd  dranm, 

f   «k  L°^^  ''°"'*''''*  ''^  ""••   knowledge  of  the   mind 
of   Shakespeare.     Unfortunately,    the   old    play     n e n- 

hkely    immediate   source   of   Shakespeare's    play,    has 
been  lost,  but  we  possess  all  the  other  known  eirlie 

i,.„V       ;  K^;^  •'""'^  •^"'^"«^'  h"^'^^-^'-'  «»>«"t  the  pluy 
mentioned  by  Gosson  to  make  it  clear  that  not  one  of 

ttl    these  earlier  versions  affords  any  real  help  for  the 
interpretation  of  Shakespeare's  play.     The  conviction 
..  .nevitnble  with  all  critics  that  none  of  these  ver.sbn" 
have   the    same   theme   or   possess    any    of   the    irreat 
qualities  of  The  Merchant  of  Venice.     Gosson's   re  - 
erence  to  the  lost  play  as  "The  Jew  .  .   .   reprcsentini. 
the  greediness  of  worldly  chusers,  and  the  bloody  minds 
of  Usurers"   lets  us   see   that  already   before   Shake- 
speare worked  upon  this  material  the  two  stories  of  the 
Caskets  and  the  Pound  of  Flesh  had  been  combined 
into  a  single  drama.     Of  direct  importance,  however, 
in  our  understanding  of   Shakespeare,   the  words   of 
Gosson  let  us  see  that  the  old  play  was  primarily  the 
story  of  Shylock,  and  that  in  it  the  Jew  was  held  up 
to  execration  after  the  manner  of  all  plays  and  stories 
of  the  times  deahng  with  Jewish  characters.     It  may- 
be concluded,  therefore,  that  the  old  play  did  not  con- 
tain anything  of  the  wonderful,  pulsating  life,  or  depth 
of  meaning  to  be  found  in  Shakespeare's  play. 

All  we  know,  then,  of  the  older  stories,  or  plays, 
leaves  it  clear  that  it  was  Shakespeare  who  chanced  it 
from  the  "Jew"  to  the  "Merchant"  of  Venice,  com- 
pletely transforming  its  inner  meaning.    After  Shake- 


138 


m 


Hamlet,  an  Idml  Prince 


speare,  as  we  know,  Lansdowne  once  more  chanced  it 
back  into  the  "Jew"  of  Venice,  thereby  losing  the  great 
value  of  the  work  of  Shakespeare.     The  change  made 
by  hhakespcare  is  significant  of  the  alteration  in  the 
point  of  view  and  of  the  consequent  meaning  of  the 
story.     Shakespeare's  play  is  no  longer  the  narrative 
of  a  usurious  and  relentless  Jew,  but  the  story  of  the 
danger  and  subsequent  escape  of  a  Christian  merchant 
from   the   clutches   of  a   Jewish   money-lender.     It   is 
therefore  not  primarily  anti-Jewish,  as  were  the  old 
forms  of  the  story,  for  the  conflict  of  Christian  and 
Jew  issues  only  in  connection  with  Bassanio's  pursuit 
of  love,  which  is  the  main  story  of  the  play.     The  old 
racial  and  religious  quarrel,  by  being  rela^- '  to  the 
love  story,  receives  a  new  vital  and  moral  significance. 
Its  solution,  moreover,  aff'ected  as  it  is  by  Bassanio's 
success  in  love,  is  worked  out  on  the  plane  of  ordinary 
human  and  moral  relationships. 

Shakespeare  everywhere  has  the  habit  of  encasing 
great  and  elementary  human  passions  in  some  of  the 
quite  ordinary  affairs  or  transactions  of  life,  thus  ex- 
hibiting their  essential  relations  to  life  and  its  tasks 
and  problems.  He  has  accordingly  enclosed  the  con- 
flict of  Antonio  and  Shylock  in  the  more  usual  but 
romantic  story  of  Bassanio's  love  for  Portia,  and  has 
made  the  latter  both  the  occasion  and  the  solution  of 
the  racial  conflict.  It  is  the  conflict  of  the  Christian 
and  the  Jew,  however,  that  is  the  one  all-absorbing 
topic  of  the  play,  and  it  is  Shylock  who  is  the  one 
great  commanding  personality.  Even  Portia  herself, 
though  so  much  more  excellent,  and  so  charming  as 
a  woman,  can  scarcely  rival  Shylock  in  dramatic  or 
in  popular  interest.  It  is  Shylock's  loan  that  makes 
possible  the  Caskets  Scene;  for  Bassanio  could  not  have 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  139 

made  the  venture  without  his  money.     Shylock,  too   is 
the  center  of  the  Trial  Scene;  for  he  is'ihe  pkin'tiff 

When  SK  K^r^^  *f  ^'"^^^  '^'  ""^"^^  °^  his  bond. 
When  Shylock  finally  leaves  the  stage  in  the  fourth  act 

the  main  interest  has  departed,  and  the  fifth  act  has 

Sl'rtrstl^ry"^  ^"  ""™^°'*^"^  *^°"«^  P-"^ 
The   opening  scenes   of   Shakespeare,   it   has    been 
maintained,    strike   the   key-note   of   the    actions   and 
motives  of  the  plays.     To  overlook  these  or  to  mis- 
understand them  IS  to  fail  in  grasping  the  meaning  of 
the  entire  play.     With  the  exception  of  ^am^.^  no 
play  has  suffered  more  from  this  than  The  Merchant 
of  J  enice      Shakespeare  seldom,  if  ever,  mis-names  his 
plays,  and  to  call  this  play  the  "Merchant"   rather 
than  the    Jew"  of  Venice  means  that  Antonio  and  not 
Shylock  IS  to  be  the  subjer-  of  the  story.     That  Shv- 
ock  at  a  later  time  and   for  a   few  scenes   becomes 
the  center  of  interest  does   not  mean   that  the  plav 
ceases  to  be  chiefly  the  story  of  Antonio.  * 

It  IS  therefore  of  prime  importance  to  notice  that 
the  chief  actors  in  the  earlier  scenes  are  Antonio  and 
Bassanio,  on  the  one  hand,  and  Portia  and  Nerissa  on 
the  other.  In  these  two  scenes  the  motive  of  the  entire 
play  is  laid  before  us,  and  Shylock  has  not  yet  put  in 
an  appearance,  nor  has  his  name  once  been  mentioned. 
The  Jew  appears  for  the  first  time  in  the  third  scene, 
and  hnaUy  disappears  entirely,  as  everybody  has 
noticed,  before  the  close  of  the  fourth  act.  This  leaves 
the  beautiful  fifth  act  to  complete  the  action  begun 
in  the  first  two  scenes. 

Shylock,  then,  is  not  the  play,  but  only  an  important 
incident  of  the  play.  He  appears  only  as  a  compli- 
cation of  the  initial  plot,  which  apart  from  him  would 


140 


ill 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


reach  its  solution  when  Bassanio  chooses  the  right 
casket.  This  would  complete  the  Caskets  Story,  which 
Shakespeare  thus  makes  the  main  plot  but  not  the 
entire  plot  of  his  drama.  With  this  he  complicates 
the  Story  of  the  Pound  of  Flesh,  which  introduces 
the  character  of  Shylock.  The  third  story,  that  of 
Jessica,  IS  a  link  between  the  two,  and  helps  to  solve 
the  complication  caused  by  Shylock's  hatred  of  the 
Christians. 

^^  At  the  opening  of  the  play,  Antonio  is  presented  as 
sad, '  and  Portia  as  "weary."     Antonio's  first  words 
are: 

"In  sooth  I  know  not  why  I  am  so  sad. 
It  wearies  me:  you  say  it  wearies  you." 

(I.  i.  1-9.) 

Not  much  better  is  the  condition  of  Portia,  as  her 
words  indicate: 

"By  my  troth  Nerissa,  my  little  body  is  aweary  of  this  sreat 
world."  '  ® 

(I.  il.  1-9.) 

Antonio's  melancholy  *  and  Portia's  weariness  both  seem 
constitutional,  and  both  foreshadow  some  of  the  diffi- 
culties and  impending  disasters  that  later  develop  in 
the  pla,y.  Antonio  always  forebodes  the  worst,  as  in 
the  Trial  Scene  when  he  is  ready  to  give  up  and  let 
Shylock  claim  his  pound  of  flesh.  Portia,  though  not 
so  apprehensive,  is  equally  disposed  to  take  things  se- 
riously and  to  let  them  weigh  upon  her  mind.  The 
"sadness"  of  the  one  may  be  taken  as  helping  to  pro- 
duce the  situation  of  the  Bond  Story,  and  the  "weari- 
ness" of  the  other  as  magnifying  the  uncertainty  and 
hence  anxiety  of  the  Caskets  Story.  Both  moods 
'C/.  Fumess,  p.  2. 


^m!^-'~ 


^u*>. 


JLia.. 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  141 

taken  together  forecast  the  serious  and  tragic  nature 

the^t*!/ T         ^  .P*"^'^"*'  *"d  ^^-^^  averted  only  bv 
the  inherent  moral  character  of  Fate  ^  ^ 

.oJll  "*?L°"  °f  ^^^  P^*3^'  °"t«n^d  in  the  first  two 

Ss"  *^-  f;o\-r^p.:rt  ^^  te-  ^^"^ 
unZ":  t  r  "f '"■'*  '^**^*^  ^'^'^--^ «»"« ^^-  ^ 

worthy   of  Zl\         """'^   ^'^  ^"^"^«h   «"   expedition 
worthy   of  a  pilgrimage    to   Belmont,    to   hazard   hi, 

fortunes  for  the  hand  of  the  heiress      He  therefore 

appeals  to  his  wealthy  friend,  Antonio  the  merchin' 

for  the  necessary  amount.     His  friend,  however   doe: 

not  haye  the  ready  money  for  the  purpose   butT;  he 

cr!S,f  f    ^!F"   *°1  ™^'<^h*»di«e  he   offers   to   u  e   h  s 
credit  to  borrow  the  money: 

"rSf'^.ten'Sr  *'".**  *^«°  *"  Venice  do. 
t5  {..™tl^JL*^^^?°  *o  «>«  uttermost. 
To  furnish  thee  to  Belmont  to  fair  Portia  " 

(I.  i.  190-9.) 

not^a  w"*!  ^*'  J^'"   '*!^'*^   *  ™"^   adventurer,   and 

L  dLsTot  XA^r  'V''^^'^^  ^d  from  Antonio 
ne  does  not  plead  his  love  for  Portia,  but  proposes  the 

il^y%:i:  ™--;Y«^t  ^Wr  of  SiTibt 

usTi'  thaf  heTJ  T*^-  ^^""^  *^'  **^^'  ^«^^^^r'  lets 
us  see  that  he  is  deeply  ,n  love  with  her,  and  his  con> 

fidence  of  success  bespeaks  the  assurance  of  a  lover 

Moreover,  the  entire  course  of  the  play  certifies  to  wi 

nie  love,  especially  his  manly  self4n^unciatfon   n  th 

choice  of  the  leaden  casket.     It  would  also  be  quit^  out 


142 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


I  ;i 


of  the  spirit  of  Shakespeare  to  make  so  much  turn 
on  the  success  of  a  fickle  and  adventurous  love.  The 
creator  of  Romeo  and  Juliet  knew  as  few  have  ever 
known  that  it  is  only  true  love  that  can  snatch  victory 
from  the  most  adverse  conditions  in  life. 

Portia,  meanwhile,  is  languishing  in  the  uncertainty 
connected  with  the  choice  of  the  caskets.  This  esti- 
mable young  lady  is  the  surviving  daughter  of  a 
wealthy  but  eccentric  old  father  whose  will  decrees 
that  her  hand  shall  be  given  in  marriage  only  to  him 
who  shall  choose  the  right  one  amoi.g  three  caskets 
arranged  in  accordance  with  his  plan.  She  is  very  ill 
at  ease  under  this  necessity  which  seems  to  her  only 
a  strange  form  of  chance.  Suitors  have  come  and 
have  gone,  some  refusing  to  take  the  risk  of  loss,  and 
leaving  without  making  any  choice ;  others  have  chosen 
wrong,  and  have  accordingly  been  condemned  to  bitter 
disappointment  and  perpetual  celibacy.  Bassanio, 
however,  who  had  previously  come  to  Belmont  in  the 
company  of  another,  had  already  made  a  very  favor- 
able impression  on  both  Nerissa  and  Portia,  who  "re- 
members him  worthy  of  praise."  Thus  Bassanio,  even 
before  the  splendid  expedition  equipped  by  Antonio,  is 
an  acceptable  suitor  for  the  hand  of  Portia. 

The  theme  of  the  drama,  then,  is  derived  in  the  first 
instance  from  the  Caskets  Story,  and  consists  in 
Bassanio's  pursuit  of  the  love  of  Portia,  equipped  as 
he  is  by  the  generosity  of  his  friend,  Antonio.  The 
love  of  Antonio  for  Bassanio  supplies  the  situation 
that  inaugurates  the  first  conflict  of  the  drama.  This 
same  friendliness,  however,  gets  the  merchant  into 
conflict  with  the  Jew.  Then  in  turn,  the  happy  cul- 
mination of  Bassanio's  love  affair  supplies  Antonio 
with  the  legal  skill  of  his  friend's  wife,  by  which  he 


m  '^.^s^ii^^iWiisEs^mPim^ 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  143 

tit'i!":  ttut't-;  ft'""^:  f"  '"^ '-'  «t.  ti.e„, 

»  »im  in  turn  also  the  frame-wnrl'  f«i.  *i,«    ami 
more   absorbinir  conflict   nf  r-K?  *'  ,    ,.  **^^  **'" 

Uined  i„  the  LrTUVv^tT^:^.    ''"'  """ 

IV 

WhUe  potential,  vorT'riZ  AntL  oT^eaUh  f  7„ 

ChristiaL  appeal  forth\*rc«  ",;  Il'r^X' •' 

the  most   favorable  term,      n;ff    •  ^T     ^^^^^ck 

m  their  differences  there  are  many  elements  of  bT.r' 

Zl  ?hatTr*r"''   '^*  '^^   '^"^^  grow  Ifo  "the" 
fact  that  the   two  parties   belong  to  different  races 


f:1f^^^m'ilim^.-  «S;  KSsV-j^hr:, 


144 


Handet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


and  religions  which  have  different  standards  and  prac- 
tices of  business.  The  play,  then,  becomes  Shake- 
speare's dramatic  study  of  these  two  types. 

The  encounter  of  Antonio  and  Shylock,  and  the 
terms  of  the  loan,  the  dramatist  is  careful  to  set  before 
us  clearly  and  fully.  Bassanio  has  met  Shylock  on  the 
Rialto,  and  has  secured  the  promise  of  the  money  on 
the  bond  of  Antonio.  This  at  once  introduces  into 
the  play  the  conflict  of  greatest  interest,  that  between 
the  Christian  and  the  Jew.  Even  in  the  arrange- 
ments for  the  loan  of  the  money  we  see  the  shadow 
of  the  great  impending  conflict  between  Antonio  and 
Shylock.  The  attempt  of  these  old  enemies,  the  mer- 
chant and  the  money-lender,  to  strike  a  bargain 
arouses  all  their  mutual  prejudices  and  antipathies. 
Shylock,  however,  in  his  eagerness  to  strike  a  bargain 
endeavors  to  conceal  his  burning  hatred.  He  foresees 
his  long-looked-for  chance  to  revenge  himself  for  in- 
juries done  by  Antonio.  While  outwardly  professing 
friendship,  to  himself  he  says:  "I  hate  him  for  he  is 
a  Christian."  This  hypocritical  friendship  is  in 
strange  contrast  to  the  acknowledged  unfriendliness 
of  Antonio,  who  admits  the  indignities  he  has  heaped 
upon  the  Jew,  and  professes  he  is  as  like  to  do  the 
same  again.  If  Shylock  lends  him  the  money  it  is  not 
to  be  on  the  plea  of  friendship,  but  "rather  to  thine 
enemy."  Antonio  has  nothing  to  conceal,  and  wishes 
to  deal  entirely  in  the  open.  He  detests  Shylock's 
methods  and  principles  of  business,  but  in  the  present 
emergency  he  is  willing  to  come  to  his  terms. 

There  is  no  doubt  some  truth  in  the  accusation  that 
Shakespeare's  portrayal  of  Shylock  is  nothing  but  a 
caricature  of  the  Jewish  character.  A  similar  criti- 
cism, however,  might  be  made  concerning  the  character 


The  Merchant  of  Venice 


145 

movef  th^  •  .  ^^'  ^  *"'•'  ^"^  '^  h«  ha,  not  re- 
moved the  caricature  entirely  from  the  Jew  neither 
has  he  removed  it  entirely  fro^  the  Christian  '  If  Sh;. 

less  a  mediKval  and  not  a  modern  Christian.  In  this 
respect  one  portrait  has  but  little  advanta^  over  the 
o  her,  f      both  alike  fall  short  of  the  many  «ceUenee 

a^V!::^rd:ystm^^^^^^^^^^^  ^^--*-  -^^  -^^^^^^^ 

fraends  and  fellow-Christians  he  may  be  magnanimous 

and  generous,  and  Salanio  caUs  him  "the  goodAn  onT 

he  honest  Antonio."     But  to  Jews  he  acKlfdJ;sTo' 

Hhiie  to  Shylock  m  particular  he  is  a  contemptuous 
and  implacable  foe.     He  conceived   no  obligXn   o 
love  to  any  but  his  friends,  and  made  no  apology  for 
a   bitter  hatred   and   contempt   towards   his   enmies 

fnd  ""fA  t'^  *°°^  ^"  °"^^  *h-^  «^  h-  own  cTed 
and  excluded  those  of  other  nations  and  creeds.     A's 

Si  iLTu  ^  T'  ?«^"t^«%  n^^di^val  in  its  narrow- 
noss,  both  in  doctrine  and  in  practice 

Antonio  is  nevertheless  the  representative  Christian 

IJ"  ^^^'^  ^L''  °°*'  ^°^^^"''  *  "^0^^™  Christian" 
but  was^  no  doubt,  a  good  type  of  the  Christian  of  his 
(lay.     He  embo^hes   the  narrow,  medieval  conception 

P(ie?^in"w/«  ^"''  ^^y  *"**  Marlowe's  Christians,"  by  William 
i'oel,  in  his  8hak0»pear«  in  the  Theatre,  pp.  69-84.  ♦»»"'«'« 


i 


146 


Hamlett  an  Ideal  Prince 


of  Christianity,  and,  therefore,  he  is  not  to  us  an 
ideal  character.*  His  conception  of  Christianity  is 
restricted  and  exclusive,  but  he  conscientiously  lives  up 
to  his  notion  of  duty,  and  in  every  emergency  makes 
his  appeal  to  Christian  principles  and  practices.  In 
the  conflict  with  the  Jew,  all  the  Christians  become 
very  conscious  of  their  religious  difference  from  Shy- 
lock,  and  side  with  Antonio  as  the  representative  of 
their  religion.  Between  Shylock  and  Antonio,  then, 
the  conflict  appears  much  less  a  personal  matter  than 
an  antagonism  of  religion  and  etnics. 

Shylock  is  portrayed  as  personally  less  excellent 
than  Antonio,  though  a  much  more  manly  Jew  than  the 
English  drama  had  ever  presented  before.  No  one, 
however,  who  knows  anything  of  the  Elizabethan  frame 
of  mind  can  fairly  think  the  dramatist  intended  him  as 
a  hero  and  a  martyr,  or  can  imagine  an  audience  re- 
garding him  as  such.  It  is  too  great  a  stretch  of 
imagination  to  maintain  that  Shakespeare  intended 
the  Jew  for  the  very  opposite  of  what  his  audience 
would  undoubtedly  understand  him  to  be.  Shylock's 
cruelty  and  vindictiveness  make  it  impossible  for  us  to 
think  that  Shakespeare  intended  him  to  be  regarded 
as  a  noble  but  much  abused  Jew,  whose  only  misdeeds 
were  his  acrimonious  defences  of  himself  and  his  race 
from  the  persecutions  of  the  Christians.  His  char- 
acteristics are  too  strong  and  positive  to  admit  of 
such  a  lenient  view.  Shakespeare  could  not  fail  to 
know  that  some  of  the  qualities  portrayed  in  him  were 
among  those  that  an  Elizabethan  audience  would  in- 
evitably regard  as  most  detestable.  As  Professor  Stoll 
says,  "Shylock  was  both  money-lender  and  Jew.     In 

*C/.  "The  Merchant  of  Venice  as  an  Exponent  of  Industrial 
Ethics,"  by  J.  Clark  Murray,  Intemationai  Journal  of  Ethict, 
Vol.  IX,  189&-9;  pp.  331-S49. 


iC#- 


-j^t:^ 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  147 

religion."  •        """"^Posre  »  day,  by  the  teachings  of 

No  doubt  Shakespeare  was  in  tl>i.  .     •       ,.       . 
".atters  more  humane  1^11  is  a«    how '"  "'i  ""'" 
humane  may  be  measured  bv  IL  %'  P""'''  """' 

ShyloeX  a/d  MaHre':''Btts"'^!h:i^'Z^  ^ 
the"  irwtidTeJi\rm"'re'?^  "'  rV-''^--  tolled 
objectionable  mor^,  Srlct  S'?f  he""' '  t'^'t'^''  '" 
obtain  their  sympathy  in  th  end  But  ijis  ^^1.'" 
.":Lrcs  af  in'-eititi™  -■''),r^Vt.t^. 
.he  con'Zn'rn  ^h  atlen^^'ynni.r"'  '.""" 
actor  before  a  modern  audienc^  that  Lm  ^mXlr 
lock  appea,  as  more  sinned  against  than  1^^^  ^^^' 
In  his   personal   character,   moreover    ShvLv   • 

cxeelIe„T,uaU  r    ButThlT't^""'*  '"  *■"  ^"y 

servant,  Launcelot,  leaves  him  for  the  service  of  tZ 
Christian,    Bassanio,    in    hopes    of   better    irL?       . 
giving  as  his  reason,  «I  am  famSiedinhi  *"'"»' 
^Op.  eit.  p.  266.  lamisned  in  his  service." 


«Eaft'*«-: 


148 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


His  own  daughter,  Jessica,  when  she  marries,  prefers 
a  Christian,  hoping  for  better  home  conditions,  for 
she  says,  "Our  house  is  hell."  Shylock's  sorrow  at  her 
elopement  is  not  so  much  at  the  loss  of  his  daughter 
as  of  his  ducats,  and  he  would  gladly  see  her  brought 
home  dead  if  only  his  ducats  would  also  be  brought 
in  the  coffin  with  her.  "Jessica  my  girl,"  spoken 
by  him  as  he  leaves  his  home  in  her  care,  as  Booth  has 
remarked,  "are  the  only  words  that  Shylock  speaks, 
which  in  the  least  degree  approach  gentleness,  and 
they  mean  nothing."  '  Even  his  grief  over  the  tur- 
quoise ring  given  him  by  his  wife  is  more  for  its  value 
than  for  its  sentiment. 

How  far  Shakespeare  intends  to  imply  that  these 
are  the  characteristics  of  the  universal  Jew  it  would 
be  difficult  to  say.  'But  they  are  the  characteristics 
of  the  universal  money-lender,  and  Shylock  was  a 
Jewish  money-lender.  If  not  in  his  personal  character, 
at  least  in  his  religion  Shylock  is  undoubtedly  pre- 
sented as  the  typical  Jew.  In  every  particular  he 
exhibits  the  mind  and  habits  of  the  medlKval  Jew,  and 
in  every  extremity  he  puts  forward  the  examples  and 
principles  of  the  Jewish  religion,  making  them  excuses 
for  his  greed  and  avarice  and  cruelty.  He  takes  the 
Jewish  Jacob  as  his  example,  and  invokes  the  blessing 
of  "father  Abram,"  and  looks  to  the  Old  Testament 
for  all  his  moral  precepts.  It  is  therefore  his  religion 
quite  as  much  as  his  personal  character  that  is  on  trial 
in  the  play,  just  as  in  the  case  of  Antonio.  In  every 
emergency  both  fall  back  upon  the  peculiar  principles 
and  practices  of  their  religions,  and  it  is  these  as  much 
as  the  men  that  are  tested  in  the  final  trial. 

Thus  the  two  men  are  led  to  exhibit  the  limitations 
» Furness,  p.  88. 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  149 

pracJIce  P^f  P'%  *>>'  P""ing  them  consistently  into 
practice      As  Professor  Moulton  has  well  said    "PJr. 

Shvlo'l  ^   '^^'^''^^^^^-\   «de    of   human      cTe'nce  - 
Shjlock  does   not   represent   the  h«.^f   „/  \-      ^— 

bI^'h"'","'"  tP'«^^   ^"y  5»tk   Chri  tUn   e&v' 
fi™tv  r  ,T  '^  '"""y  "'  ""'i"-  position,  bv  holdW 

is  a  batflo  f/        i  i°  *^'^  *'''*^"^'  ♦h^n»  the  play 

That  the  antagonism  between  the  two  nien  takes  tho 
forms  both  of  religious  creed  and  business  rthoLjav 
be  seen  an  connection  with  the  loan  of  mTney  Shv^ 
lock   then    freely   admitted   that   «Antonr"7a   ^ood 

Ten'  hoTra"l?i*'^V'^^  '""'  ^^  ^^^^'^^.t  sL^t 

however   fo  lend  f     »!?'  T'  **  T'     "^  ^«  ^^^"^^t^nt 
nowever,  to  lend  to  him,  for  as  he  says,  "I  hate  him 

for  he  18  a  Christian."     Then  he  adds  the  still  deet^ 
reason  by  saying  that  he  hates  him,  ^" 

H-  i""^"*  (°'"  *''**  *"  '°w  Simplicity, 
ThJlnf^  n7*  """"^y.K^tis.  and  brings  down 
The  rate  of  usance  here  with  us  in  Venice" 

(I.  iil.  43-45.) 
This  is  a  conflict  of  methods  of  business,  but  it  grows 
out  of  the  differences  in  religion.  The  ChrisfLns 
thinking  money  was  barren,  would  not  take  increase* 
or  interest  for  its  use.  Th.y  did  not  know  "hTtlt 
^'Four  Years  of  Novel  Reading,  p.  4;  Boston.  D.  C.  Heath 
•  William  Shakespeare.  English  trans.,  pp.  157-8. 


150 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


1^ 

IS  ,- 


wa«  not  money,  but  owch  and  rams  that  really  wore 
borrowed,  and  that  these  have  a  natural  increaiie. 
The  Jews,  having  few  other  ways  of  living,  had  no 
scruples  about  lending  mone3'  on  interest.  When, 
therefore,  Shylock  finally  insists  on  lending  the  money 
without  interest,  as  the  Christians  did,  Antonio  sug- 
gests, "This  Hebrew  will  turn  Christian,  he  grows 
kind."     (I.  iii.  183-4.) 

The  loan,  however,  is  not  arranged  until  Shylock 
has  taken  his  opportunity  to  express  the  deep  hatred, 
"a  certain  loathing,"  which  he  bears  toward  Antonio 
personally.  He  reminds  him  of  the  many  indignities 
and  insults  he  has  endured  from  him,  and  of  the 
patience  with  which  he  has  borne  it  all.  Then  in  a 
conciliatory  manner  he  adds, 

"I  would  be  friends  with  you,  and  have  your  love, 
Forget  the  shames  that  you  have  stained  me  with. 
Supply  your  present  wonts,  and  take  no  doit 
Of  usance  for  mv  moneys,  and  you'll  not  hear  me. 
This  is  kind  I  offer." 

(I.  Hi.  149-146.) 

The  Christians  had  not,  however,  expected  anything 
but  a  hard  bargain  from  their  old  enemy,  and  arc 
greatly  surprised  at  his  apparently  easy  terms.  He 
will  not  merely  take  no  interest,  but  as  security  for 
the  money  he  will  take  only  Antonio's  bond,  which  shall 
be  signed  "in  a  merry  sport,"  that  if  the  surfl  of  money 
is  not  paid  on  such  a  day  the  forfeit  shall  be 

"an   equal   pound 
Of  your  fair  flesh,  to  be  cut  off  and  taken 
In  what  part  of  your  body  it  plcaseth  me." 

(I.  iii.  154-6.) 

Antonio  is  quite  willing  to  give  this  bond,  as  he  feels 
secure  in  his  many  ships;  but  Bassanio  protests 
strongly, 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  151 

"You  shall  not  seal  to  auch  a  bond  for  me. 
I II  rather  dwell  In  my  ntK^ssity." 

(I.  ill.  150-10O.) 

Antonio,  having  no  suspicions,  had  no  idea  of  the  deep 
revenge  that  lay  behind  that  apparently  innocent 
bond.     But  Shylork  knew: 

"V   ».*"■."  *?**■•'  *''"'  o"<*  "Pon  the  W|», 
I  will  feed  fat  the  ancient  grudge  I^bear  him.- 

(I.  111.  4«-47.) 

In  spite  of  the  further  protest  of  Bassanio,  who  likes 
not  fair  terms  and  a  villain's  mind,"  the  bond  is 
agreed  to,  the  money  passed  over,  and  Bassanio  betakes 
himself  to  Belmont. 


The  object  of  Bassanio's  quest,  the  beautiful  and 
wealthy  Portia,  exhibits  considerable  concern  as  one 
after  another  of  her  would-be  husbands  chooses  among 
the  caskets.  She  and  Nerissa  have  a  good  deal  of 
serious  merriment  as  they  discuss  the  virtues  of  these 
suitors,  and  of  apprehension  as  they  lead  them  to  the 
caskets  to  choose.  Portia  thinks  it  rather  an  unfair 
ordeal  to  subject  her  to  such  a  chance,  and  considers  it 
unwonted  caprice  on  her  father's  part: 

Jl^^  "m^l  '^^'^^^  *'!?'"  ^  '^°"'**'  "°«"  «^^"»e  whom  I  dislike, 
father!"*  *  *^  daughter  curb'd  by  the  will  of  a  dead 

(I.  il.  83-94.) 

It  all  looked  as  though  she  would  be  subject  to  the 
humilintion  and  danger  of  being  won  by  chance.  But 
such  was  not  the  case.  What  it  did  was  to  replace 
ht-r  right  of  free  choice  by  an  arrangement  providing 


5ia?i3 


152 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


':  i 
''I 


% 


for  the  higher  necessity  of  her  moral  nature  in  securing 
as  her  husband  a  worthy  and  honorable  man.  Th" 
inscriptions  on  the  caskets  were  so  ingeniously  devised 
that  no  one  but  a  worthy  man  would  ever  choose  the 
leaden  casket— one  who  would  trulv  love  Portia,  and 
whose  character  was  guaranteed  by  the  purity  and  un- 
selfishness of  his  love.  This  faith  the  dramatist  puts 
into  the  words  of  Nerissa: 

"The  lottery  .  .     will,  no  doubt,  never  be  chosen  by  any  riirhUv 
but  one  who  you  shall  rightly  love."  '     ^  "gnuy, 

(I.  U.  ?S-S3.) 
When  the  Prince  of  Morocco  came  to  choose  he  was 
caught  by  the  inscription  on  the  golden  casket :  "Who 
chooseth  me  shall  gain  what  many  men  desire."  In  his 
argument  before  choosing,  he  sliowcd  clearly  that  what 
he  desired  was  the  great  wealth  of  Portia,  as  typified 
in  the  golden  casket.  Instead  of  what  he  expected,  he 
found  only  "a  carrion  death,"  and  a  written  scroll  that 
reminded  him  that  he  had  been  guided  by  avarice  to 
choose  for  gain. 

Little  better,  if  any,  was  the  choice  of  the  Prince  of 
Arragon,  who  was  taken  by  the  inscription  on  the 
silver  casket:  "Who  chooseth  me  shall  get  as  much  as 
he  deserves."  Then  in  his  arrogant  self-conceit  and 
pride  he  felt  sure  that  it  was  he  who  deserved  the  noble 
Portia :  "I  will  assume  my  desert."  And  he  opened  the 
silver  casket  only  to  find  "the  portrait  of  a  blinking 
idiot,"  to  suggest  to  him  his  true  worth,  and  to  assure 
him  that  only  fools  boast  of  their  deserts. 

Bassanio,  however,  who  had  already  won  the  love 
of  Portia,  came  with  a  different  motive,  and  chose  the 
leaden  casket  with  the  inscription :  "Who  chooseth  me 
must  give  and  hazard  all  he  hath."  His  love  for  Portia 
was  so  genuine  and  so  intense  that  he  was  willing  to 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  153 

risk  aJI  to  win  her.     The  pure  love  he  bore  her  made 

^rthn  /^  ^^•°.- '  """J*^^  °^  ^'''     ««  ^°"'d  not  lose 
on  these  conditions,  for  the  inscriptions  wore  of  such 

a  character  that  the  false  must  lose  and  the  tlJ^e 
must  w,n.  There  was  no  accident  about  the  choice, 
but  It  was  the  outcome  of  a  moral  necessity.  The 
ingcmous  scheme  of  her  father  was,  therefore,  vin- 
dicated, and  Bassanio  became  the  happy  husband  of 
the  lovely  Portia.  No  wonder  the  daughter  of  a  father 
so  clever  should  herself  prove  ingenious  in  the  subse- 
quent defence  of  her  husband's   friend. 

Wlnlo  to  all  outward  appearance  the  two  contending 
parties  to  the  loan  are  now  at  peace,  these  relation- 
ships  are   presently    again    disturbed.      The    conflict, 
however,   is   deep   but   not   irreconcilable.      The   nar- 
'iHge  of  Jessica  and  Lorenzo,  wh"  h  soon  follows,  not 
only  re-awakens  strife,  but  also  p...ts  out  the  manner 
of  the  ultimate  reconciliation.     By  this  m.,  riage  of 
Jew  and  Chnstian  the  dramatist  announces  his  belief 
m  the  fundamental  oneness  of  the  two  races,  and  sug- 
gests that  love  can  reconcile  all  their  conflicts.     Love 
leaps  all  barriers.     Even  the  conflict  of  Christian  and 
Jew  IS  not  due  to  any  primary  antagonism  in  human 
nature,  but  to  prejudices  and  accidental  differences. 
iJhylock   and   Antonio  are   not  natural  enemies,  and 
need  only  the  gift  of  love  to  overcome  their  differences. 
1  he  dramatist,  as  m  the  case  of  R<meo  and  Juliet  sets 
out  to  reconcile  the  apparently  irreconcilable.     Know- 
ing the  heart  of  man  as  no  other  writer  of  all  time 
he  IS  the  one  that  has  most  faith  in  human  nature. 

Shylock  s  pretence  of  reconciliation  appears  in  its 
true  light  when  the  time  draws  near  for  Antonio  to 
pay  the  xoan.  The  reported  loss  of  all  Antonio's  ships 
gives   Shylock   an   excuse  to   clamor   for  hi»  money 


w-i 


-fj 


154 


If  a  miff,  an  Ideal  Prince 


When  he  finds  the  merchant  cannot  pay,  denying  all 
pleas  for  an  extension  of  time,  he  causes  him  to  be 
arrested,  and  appeals  to  the  Court  for  permission  to 
collect  the  forfeit  of  his  bond,  "a  pound  of  flesh." 
With  this  his  real  purpose  of  taking  the  life  of  some 
of  his  enemies  is  revealed.  The  Christians  had  never 
really  trusted  Shylock,  in  spite  of  his  apparent  readi- 
ness to  forget  the  past  and  be  friends.  But  they  had 
felt  secure  in  the  many  ships  Antonio  had  upon  the 
seas,  for  if  even  one  came  home  in  time  they  could 
discharge  the  loan,  and,  as  Antonio  assured  Bassanio, 
they  were  all  due  "a  month  before  the  day."  In  the 
calamitous  failure  of  all  the  ships,  however,  Shylock 
found  his  opportunity  to  revenge  his  "ancient  grudge" 
upon  Antonio. 

In  the  failure  of  all  Antonio's  ships  and  in  his 
consequent  inability  to  meet  the  bond,  Shylock  finds 
his  opportunity.  After  the  arrest,  he  pushes  his  suit 
with  all  haste  and  as  speedily  as  possible  brings  the 
matter  before  the  law.  He  feels  perfect  confidence  in 
the  validity  of  his  bond,  and  awaits  only  the  verdict  of 
the  court  to  cut  off  his  pound  of  flesh  and  take  the 
life  of  the  hated  Antonio.  But  as  an  alien  he  did  not 
thoroughly  understand  the  law  of  the  dramatist's 
Venice,  and  did  not  comprehend  its  moral  principles. 


VI 


The  Trial  Scene,  deservedly  one  of  the  most  popu- 
lar in  Shakespeare,  is  also  one  of  the  deepest  and  fullest 
in  meaning.  Into  this  scene  the  dramatist  has  con- 
densed all  his  thought  on  the  great  contest  of  Chris- 
tianity and  Judaism,  which  through  all  the  centuries 
has    remained    unsettled.     It   is   needless   to  say  that 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  155 

Shakespeare  does  not  treat  these  religions  as  dogmatic 

T^Za       'tt^'^y-^''^^  -»"ch  a  dramatist  has^oth' 
in^  to  do-but  as  practical  systems  or  codes  of  moral 

value?     -^  •.""'  '""'r''  '"  •"  '^''^  "°^«'  «"d  «P-itua 
ttTou^fsceir"^^  ^'  "^'  '''^'  ''-'  -'  -'-»  - 
In  the  Trial  which  Shylock  has  invoked  we  begin  to 
feel  sure  that  the  conflict  between  the  two  menT  no 

ioXf  %  ?u''    ^"°"*^   "^^""'■'   ^"*    ^««    become    a 
conflict  of  their  religions  and  of  the  methods  of  business 

that  have  grown  out  of  their  religions.     Shylock  would 

seem  now  to  regard  himself  as  the  representative  ^d 

avenger   of  his   people,   and    takes   upon   himself  the 

fhf  vT^'L^'^'u^"*^.*^"  centuries  of  cruelty  and  scorn 
that  had  been  heaped  upon  his  people.     He  very  gladly 
assumes  this  roh.  of  representative,  and  gloats  ovf  r  the 
opportunity    of    "bettering    the    instruction"    of    the 
Christians.     As  Antonio  likewise  considered  himself  the 
representative  of  the  Christians  in  the  dealings  with 
the  Jew,  both  men  are   representative  of  their  races, 
of  their   religions,  and   0/  their  mutual  animosities. 
They  represent    then,  not  only  the  personal  attitudes 
of  two  men   of  different   religions,   but  the   religions 
themselves.     By  appealing  to  the  Court  Shylock  has 
made  real   the  conflict  of  the   two  religions,  and  has 
made   comparison   inevitable.     But  with    that   insiirht 
which  IS  always  his  chief  characteristic,  Shakespeare 
has  contrived  a  situation  in  which  it  is  not  the  doc^ 
matic  theologies  of  the  two  religions  that  come  to  trial, 
but  their  practical  systems  and  codes  of  moral  prin- 
ciples.    It  ,8  only  the  moral  and  spiritual  values  of 
the  two  religions  that  are  brought  to  trial  in  the  Court 
scene. 

Shylock's  refusal  to  accept  the  full  amount  of  the 


156 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


bond  when  proffered  him  in  Court  reveals  u  thirst  for 
revenge  and  not  a  mere  desire  for  justice,  as  he  pre- 
tends. The  unworthiness  of  his  motive  is  further  dis- 
closed when  he  declines  twice  the  amount,  and  then 
thrice,  with  the  same  unhesitating  scomfulness.  He 
steadfastly  declines  all  but  the  forfeiture,  the  pound  of 
flesh,  to  be  cut  off,  as  he  says,  "nearest  the  merchant's 
heart."  He  is  bent  on  having  the  penalty  iind  forfeit 
of  his  bond,  for  with  that  must  go  the  life  of  Antonio, 
for  whom  he  acknowledges  "a  lodged  hate  and  a  certain 
loathing." 

Every  conceivable  inducement  was  brought  to  bear 
upon  Shylock  to  extend  mercy  to  Antonio,  and  not  to 
push  his  bond  to  the  point  of  ckimin^  the  forfeiture. 
The  first  speech  of  the  Duke  after  Shy  lock  entered  the 
Court  was  a  plea  for.  him  to  show  "human  gentleness 
and  love."  Portia  likewise,  whom  the  successful  cul- 
mination of  the  love  story  of  the  caskets  had  provided 
as  a  champion  for  Antonio,  begs  him  to  "be  merci- 
ful." In  her  fine  speech  on  "the  quality  of  mercy"  she 
vainly  urges  upon  the  Jew  the  necessity  of  mercy 
between  man  and  man,  as  between  God  and  man.  She 
discloses  the  limitations  of  justice  as  a  rule  of  life  by 
citing  the  fact  that  it  cannot  be  universally  adopted. 
We  all  need  to  receive  mercy,  she  nobly  says,  for  "in 
the  course  of  justice,  none  of  us  should  see  salva- 
tion." She  further  presses  upon  him  the  petitions  of 
the  Christian  prayer  which  teaches  us  when  we  pray 
for  mercy  to  render  also  the  deeds  of  mercy.  All 
these  admonitions  Shylock  impatiently  repudiates,  ex- 
claiming: 

"My  deeds  upon  my  head,  I  crave  the  law. 
The  penalty  and  forfeit  of  my  bond." 

(IV.  I.  91«.7.) 


^^JF 


■:^mmm 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  157 

sdVon"slf/r  "^r/^^  ^*r  "^  J"«*'<^^'  thinking  him- 
seJf  on  safe  ground,  for  as  he  had  earlier  said    "WW 

judgment  shall  I  fear,  doing  no  wrong?"     Th^  d^^ 

Sn?     TK  P"°"^P^^«.^of  the  government  of  human 

fralTn  the  nf    %r%P"""P^'^'  **^^"'  ^^^  brought  to 
trial  m  the  plaj   the  former  as  the  moral  princh>le  of 

ChrSit^   ''^   ^^"^'   ^'   '''   "-^  ^^  "' 

by  ctTst*rth?^^'°"'  ^^'^^u^'"  ''"^^^'^y  interpreted 
bj  Lhrist  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount:  «Yo  have  heard 

ev[l    but  wL  TT,  ""^**  ^'°"'  '^^'^t  ye  resist  not 

evii.  but  whosoever  shall  smite  thee  on  thy  ridit  cheek 

}L         /J'''  *"  "^''    ''  denounced  as  a  principle  of 
k'.!"?  J^^'r"^;   °'  «^"i"«  ™°^e  than  you  must    ° 
substituted      Life   is   larger   than   law,   and   moralitv 
than  legality.     This  has  long  been  reco^ized,  as  fn  the 
old  expression,  aummun  jus,  summa  i^uria. 

IJie  two  contestants  are  not  to  be  understood  as 
personal  embodiments  of  the  principles  tSerrepr^enl 
hhylock  had  not  been  throughout  his  Ufe  alf  for^ju  tfce 
nor  Antomo  all  for  mercy.  The  Jew  had  been  better 
than  his  law  and  the  Christian  worse  than  his.     But 

tre^if      '  ^7^T^  '^''^  P""^^P^^«'  *"d  have  in  ex* 
tremities  made  their  appeals  to  them.     Hence  it  is  the 

r/t"  ^V''}  ""'  ^  ""^^  '''^'  "^  -  tSah  "t£ 
TnnLf  7'     ^"^'^T  J'°"'  ""  "°"«i^t  of  persons  to  a 
contest  of  representative  mdividuals,  each  standing  for 
the  Ideal  of  the  religion  he  professes.     Portia's  elo- 

tT.r^^TK''^  •^"•'*r  ?"^  ^^''"^y^  *"d  the  final  de- 
feat of  Shylock,  can  only  be  understood  as  the  drama- 
tist s  declaration  m  favor  of  the  principle  of  Mercy 


•I! 
■  >  jl 


mK-mmmm;m^i^m^^ 


168 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


Ki^ 


I 


or  a  verdict  for  the  Christian  ethics. 

The  persistent  refusal  of  Shjlock  to  yield  to  these 
strong  entreaties  serves  to  draw  out  the  many  re- 
sources of  Portia  in  her  effort  to  save  her  husband's 
friend.  The  Court  cannot  compel  mercy,  for  it  is  a 
principle  of  conduct,  not  of  law.  Herein  is  shown  the 
limitation  of  "law"  as  an  expression  of  ethical  prin- 
ciples. The  decision  of  the  Court  must  be  strictly 
legal,  and  judgment  is  pronounced  In  favor  of  Shylock. 
He  is  at  once  reminded,  however,  by  Portia  that  his 
bond  calls  for  only  "flesh" ;  and  he  is  informed  that  if 
he  shed  "one  drop  of  Christian  blood"  his  lands  and 
goods  will  be  "confiscate  unto  the  State  of  Venice." 
Again,  he  is  told  that  if  he  takes  more  than  just  a 
pound  of  flesh,  he  must  himself  die,  since  his  bond  calls 
for  "a  just  pound,"  nb  more  and  no  less.  Further,  he 
is  told  that  because  he  has  contrived  against  the  life 
of  a  citizen  he  has  forfeited  his  own  life,  which  lies 
now  at  the  mercy  of  the  Duke  only. 

At  this  juncture  the  Christian  principle  of  mercy 
that  Shylock  has  scomfuUy  rejected  as  a  guide  to  his 
own  conduct  comes  to  his  rescue  and  intervenes  to  save 
his  life.  His  extreme  predicament  instantly  humbles 
his  proud  spirit,  and  the  Duke  at  once  seizes  the 
opportunity  to  say, 

"That  thou  shalt  see  the  difference  of  our  spirit, 
I  pardon  thee  thy  life  before  tlwu  ask  it" 

(IV.  I.  385-6.) 

Shylock  as  quickly  avails  himself  of  the  interposition 
of  the  principle  he  had  so  recently  scorned,  and  his 
life  is  saved.  But  in  accepting  the  mercy  of  the  Duke, 
the  Jew  tacitly  acknowledges  the  complete  defeat  of  his 
own  principle  as  a  moral  code.  He  was  conscientious, 
however,  in  holding  to  his  code  until  he  saw  it  de- 


Th€  Merchant  of  Venice  159 

tnd^^tf  ^'"  rr'P'^'  ^"^  '^"^   ^   "-t   severe  test 
and  Its  failure  disc bsed  its  defects  ^f^A  fK«  •     •!  * 

of  its  rival.  *"^  ^^^^  superiority 


vn 

conta  o7'^c ^urTstne""":'  "P""  Sh.ke.peare'. 
accord  witi;  p    Tu  ;  "'  ■'  *"""  entirely  out  of 

accord  with  English  practice  and  EneUsh  hml  „ro 
codurc.     Neither  judge,  nor  plaintiff.^Z  Sdan^ 
nor  counsel,  seen,  to  conduct  themselves  as  in  .^P  " 
U,  court,  and  the  verdict  seems  a  trrvesty'nustf 
1  he  judge  seems  to  be  counsel  for  the  defend  the 

for'the  dT.  ";  ■"  '■"  "*"  ™""-''  «ndThe  c";.„?e 
Court     i^'f "'''"". »^r'  t»  P"'  the  judgment  of  th.' 

Wand  it  r"""f  •■■■•'^S«'»."tJ'  «»tinull  to  be  con- 
'using  and  at  times  disconcerting  to  critics  until  ISHfi 
when  in  a  letter  to  rA.  0.erlL  M^myul.  S 
T.  Doyle  made  it  known  that  the  proc^ure  of  the 
Court  of  Venice  was  the  same  a.  had  su^ved  to  that 
day  in  some  o   the  Latin  Republic,  of  Sruth  Amerfc. 

t  e  law  courts  of  Nicaragua,  and  then  says:  "With 
this  experience,  I  read  the  case  of  Shylock  over  aoSn 
and  understood  it  better.     It  wa,  plL  that  theTrt 

xperieJce      tV't  -'.T  """^  *^''*  »'  "y  «<=«^ 
experience.     The  Trial  Scene  opens  on  the  day  an- 

pointed   for   hearing  judgment;   the   fac^had^b^ 
seW^'       *',,'  'P'-™'"  "="'»"•  ""<'  Bellario  h«I  £° 

to  them  "Vt  '""l'  iV' """L'"'  t"-^  ''"'  "PPli'^'^l" 
to  them.     The  case  had  been  submitted  to  him  in  writ 

■ng,  and   tn«  Court  was  awaiting  his  decSn      Thl 

defendant,  when  the  case  is  callel,  answersTi  d^e 


.■^.■■HKi;^-^-**  :w- 


160 


Hamlet,  an  I  deal  Prinve 


dtti'ly  in  our  own  courts:  *Keady,  so  pkasc  your 
Grace.'  "  Continuing,  Mr.  Doyle  draws  the  parallel 
still  further  between  the  two  cases,  in  the  matter  of 
procedure,  making  it  quite  clear  that  Shakespeare  was 
following  a  well-known  and  established  form  of  pro- 
cedure, and  not  devising  one  of  his  own.  It  is  the 
usual  thing  to  find  at  last  that  Shakespeare  does  not 
need  to  be  rewritten,  but  only  to  be  understood.* 

A  much  more  serious  charge  is  made  against  the 
dramatist,  however,  when  it  is  asserted  that  in  the 
Trial  Scene  the  law  is  perverted  in  favor  of  Antonio 
and  to  the  discomfiture  of  Shylock.  It  has  been  held 
by  Campbell  and  others  that  Portia's  interpretation  of 
the  law  is  nothing  but  a  legal  quibble,  and  that  Shy- 
lock  is  condemned  only  on  a  perverted  construction  of 
a  plain  contract.  Any  court,  it  is  said,  would  grant 
whatever  is  necessarily  and  inseparably  connected  with 
a  main  judgment  rendered.  If  blood  is  unavoidably 
shed  in  cutting  out  a  pound  of  flesh,  then  any  court 
that  would  permit  flesh  to  be  taken  would  also  allow 
blood  to  be  shed.  If,  for  instance,  a  man  buys  a 
number  of  loads  of  gravel  from  his  neighbor,  he  is 
allowed  to  leave  a  hole  in  his  neighbor's  field,  even  if 
that  neighbor  should  some  day  kill  himself  by  falling 
into  it.  The  English  law  of  Shakespeare's  day,  and 
for  a  long  time  afterwards,  permitted  debtors  to  be 
put  to  death  for  non-payment.  Shylock,  then,  it  is 
said,  should  have  been  allowed  to  claim  the  penalty 
of  his  bond,  with  all  that  pertained  thereto.  To  de:  j- 
him  this  was  to  wrest  the  law  from  its  course,  and  to 

»For  Mr.  Doyle's  article,  entitled  "Shakespeare's  Law— The 
Case  of  Shylock,"  cf.  The  Overland  Monthly,  for  July,  1886. 
For  a  summary  of  the  article,  cf.  Fumes  •"•:  Variorum  Editioii  of 
The  Merchant  of  Venice,  pp.  417-MO. 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  igj 

^""a  Jel".**"  »"'"  •"  Sh,l„ck-.„d  ..,  becu,-  he 
t^S  put' NXnti'^r  t-^Jf/ii?  '""^ 

critic,  „,  Sh.7e  ;/.?;•  J"™,?'-  ^'  "■-'  <"  "-  other 
Judge  Holme,  ,how,  th^t  ^Ul  ^  """P"'  ')"'"''«on» 
legal  pha,e  of  the  Trial  sL".'^'""''  inducted  the 
the  theory  and  pri «'     .,  E„'^.?  k'?' "T''"'""  ""h 
co„,idere3  the  i^uTty  »,  w^^  JrV  "''r!'  '''''■'^' 
00,0.    In  a  ease  of  the  veaT  IfilS   X.  11"=*  '*'  '"  " 
«ftor  Shake,peare',  pU   l!?  k'    r  ."*  *"""'>"  y'«" 
King-,  speech,  prepa^ybv  ,he  L^^  n"^"^''  *'>"^ 
franci.  Bacon,  e,pre,7lyde't,e,°T  '^^'""''''  ^'^ 
the  Engli,h  with  other  courts  Tf  1        ?™P»"«>n  of 
English!  exceed,  the  ofher  co,  ■  t°       ''•  *•""  "'*  f-e 
justice,  where  the  other  c™,.?        '  ""?'"«  "'"'^y  "ith 
to  strict  rule,  ofT:    Td  Xrrthe°"'^""''J'''"« 
law  m  many  case,  will  undo  a  subLt  jhTth  l""" 
eery  .emper,  the  law  with  ^..,*      •"  j  '      '"  '"e  Chan- 
with  ju,lice  a,  it  pre!     eX^'f'"''  'S  ""'""■  "^"y 
the  very  legal  doc';rin     en  .nc  at^Tv  p"T"-"'. 
great  speech  on  "the  quality  Tf^erty 'J^ItV"  *■" 
clear  from  this  that  wh,l«  »!    j  """■?•       "  become, 

tatin  form  of  prt'edt^^?;  rt'^^SlT- '•■' 

With  the  t^ry  oTE^^.tTw  ^'w^Xtlllt 

t^A  Campbell,  quoted  by  Furness.  n  iii«  » 
to  this  criticism  Professor  Moulton^S:  ^*\u®^  ''"3^  of  answer 
rests  his  cause  on  a  whim  c«nnof  ^^J^?  that  "the  suitoTwhD 
quibble."  i8hak.^%a^,Z  aTLS^'il^U^^  ^'  upset  bj  a 
not  meet  the  Issu^for  Sh?Iock  d^d^t^ JrS'-^  ^"*  this  /o« 
and  Portia  did  not  upset  1 1  on  a  qtibbte.     *  "'  '*"'*  °"  »  ^W™' 


162 


I. 


Hamlet^  an  Ideal  Prince 


of  English  practice,  by  tempering  justice  with  mercy. 
The  poet  apparently  conceived  his  Christian  and  moral 
principle  of  "mercy"  to  be  nothing  but  the  English 
legal  principle  of  "equity"  in  another  form.* 

It  cannot,  therefore,  be  claimed  that  the  verdict  of 
the  court  was  technically  unsound,  but  only  that  it 
introduced  the  principle  of  equity,  apparently  unknown 
in  Venetian  law,  but  with  which  Shakespeare  was  quite 
familiar  in  English  law.  This  worked  no  injustice  to 
Shylock,  and  in  no  way  injured  his  case,  for  if  it  was 
invoked  in  the  first  instance  to  save  the  life  of  Antonio, 
it  was  also  later  invoked  to  save  his  own.  The  appli- 
cation cannot  be  claimed  as  wholly  in  favor  of  Antonio, 
for  in  both  instances  alike  the  law  was  set  aside  by  the 
law,  in  the  larger  interests  of  equity.  Shakespeare, 
in  accordance  with  Jinglish  legal  theory,  recognizes 
that  the  law  is  always  in  danger  from  itself,  and  that 
the  law  must  ideally  be  made  to  work  out  the  Right, 
even  if  in  so  doing  it  discredits  itself.  In  his  dramatic 
world,  at  least,  Shakespeare  is  free  to  show  that  mercy 
is  of  more  moment  than  legality,  for  it  is  an  ethical 
demand. 

Shylock,  therefore,  in  the  play  suffers  no  injustice, 
for  he  had  been  offered  his  principal,  together  with 
twice  the  amount  for  any  damage  he  might  have  sus- 
tained from  the  delay.  In  the  face  of  his  refusal  to 
accept  this  proffered  payment  of  his  bond,  together 
with  twice  the  amount  as  penalty,  no  further  or  no 
other  peialty  could  be  legally  or  justly  demanded. 
The  pound  of  flesh  was  only  a  penalty  for  non-pay- 
ment, and  could  not  be  demanded  in  place  of  the  prof- 

»*'Shylock'8  Case,"  by  Judge  Nathaniel  Holmes,  in  TA#  W»at- 
em  Galaxy,  published  in  Salt  Lake  City,  Vol.  I,  No.  9,  pp.  909- 
aiT,  April,  1888.  ^^ 


'J'hf  Merchant  „f  Vruice  iflij 

S  rT?/     *'   •''■?««  Holme.   rom.,k.,  "By  the 

due;  but  b,  E„gl,.h  «!uit;  the' An.lS  w«"~^,3S 
..  «  .ecurity,  and  when  the  parly  „,  ~!^  r 
the  principal,  with  interest  bv  -L     ,     ^  *"  P'^ 
for  the  djLy.  the  pl"aS  wI/b^LS' t'oTaC  if  "."r 

^7j;'o:^iA'- ""'"'"'"'  -•  «.ieve:r:iai;.t'th: 

:.'/:n"4e7aw^'TC"^  '^It  a     B^at  r 
he  n,u,t  abide  i.y"h"l^i'tTtt'  '".'"V"''  *'»  '•"• 

r:e:tir=\i?^r??'"r"^^^^^^^^^ 

defendant  to  hold  to  Th.  •        t  P"^^'«"   °^  ^^^ 

me  lorieit.     bhe  does  not,  however.  Dress  thi.  I™  .- 
h,.  undoing,  but  immediately  involc^sTrshyloek^bt 

pardons  Shylocl's  ,ife  L^t  W  a^k."  l.Tfctrl'lhr 
wg,  as  he  says,  "the  difference  of  our  soirit  "     Bv  f  J 

»«Shylock'8Case,"p.  311.  Antonio  at  once 


164 


Ifnmltt,  an  Ideal  Prince 


rctorw  to  him  on  condition  that  he  immediately  Ix- 
come  a  Chri.li«n,-the  hardest  of  all  thing*  for  Shy- 
lock.     It  means  that  he  must  renounce  not  only  his 
Jewwh   faith    but   also   his   methods   of  business,   for 
usury    WH,    forbidden    by    both    Christian    belief   and 
practice.     This   condition,   it   should    be   remembered, 
was  not  in  the  original  story,  but  was  added  by  Shake- 
speare himself.     It  was  the  dramatist  who  demanded 
that     He   presently   become  a   Christian."     This  has 
been  considered  very  unjust,  and  as  Ten  Brink  says, 
It  IS  only  against  his  U-ing  forced  to  become  a  con- 
vert that  our  feelings  justly  rebel.»' »     Yet  it  was  a 
common  enough  occurrence   in   those  days  to  compel 
Jews  to  become   Christians,  and   by   adopting  it   the 
dramatist  indicates  that  under  the  conditions  Shylock 
might  fairly   be  calldd  upon  to  accept  baptism.     To 
this    the  Jew   feebly   consents,   and   at   once   requests 
permission  to  leave  the  court,  alleging  only,  "I  am  not 
well.        ihe  illness  was,  of  course,  in  his  spirit,  and 
was  caused   by  his  complete  discomHture  in   his  suit 
against  Antonio.     The  demand  to  become  a  Christian 
had  been  the  last  straw  to  break  his  spirit,  and  he  left 
the  court  in  humble  submission.     This  has  been  con- 
sidered the  crowning  injustice  of  a  very  unjust  trial, 
but  as  Shylock  preferred  it  to  the  law  he  had  invoked 
and  to  the  loss  of  his  life,  it  need  not  be  regarded  as 
completely  intolerable. 

A  great  deal  of  sympathy  has  been  wasted  upon 
Shylock  by  two  classes  of  people.  One  of  these  always 
sympathizes  with  the  vanquished,  whether  victim  or 
criminal,  and  the  other  class  has  overlooked  some  of 

K  '?*»*  i**'''t?'  **"   Shakeipmre,  by  Ten   Brink;  Enir.  trans, 
by  Julia  Franklin,  p.  190;  New  York,  Holt,  1895.  * 


The  Merchinit  of  Venice  ign 

mind     mt  the  (  l,n,tl,.n,  wirv  face  to  f«ee  with  .very 
.hffleult   prohl..,,,.      One  .,f  ,h,i,  „„^^     h«d   1.^^!? 
d«n«er  from  h  Jew  who  hud  tri.^l  ,»  .  nenaUvT. 
Io«n  to  t,.ke  the  Chri.ti,.,,-,  |if..      ft  w„.  nCf  ,il  ." 

f."to  n:w'^::„r°h:':hie«?ih;Tc;  »■;'  l"'-  r-/*- 

and  pmet.ce  ,„  the  „,„tter,  Antonio  had  ineurred     'e 
m.nl.e„ble  hatrojl  of  sl,vlo<.k,  the  money-lender      ,, 
Court  had  turned  the  table,  on  the  Jew.  Vho  haS     ,  ,.  1 

merey  that^,e'h"rZ""*  '"""  ""^  ^''"■««»'  "-  vc 
mercy  that  he  had  been  »o  unwilling  to  mve. 

It  wa.  but  natural,  then,  that  the  Chri.ti.n.    ,1,  ,■, 
demand  -ome  Runrantee  from  Shyloek   that  the    V, 
time  he  got   Antonio  or  any  other  ChriHti.n   in   1, 
danger  he  would  ,h„w  the  .ame  mercy  tT.    1    „!' 

good  th  ng  to  give.     It  i,  not   fair  to  run  w»h  the 

wfirbv  th  ch  ■  r^  '""";•''••  ,"shy.o™k  i-riv : 

wnent  uy  the  Christian  princ  p  e  of  mercv  If  nf..«f 
be  on  the  condition  that  in  fut^ure  cacThTw  1  aho 
Rive  the  same   benefit   to  others       Them   .",  iJ 

rule  even   for  Jews.      If  he^^udia^f  h^  jSstft 
JudRism   and   accepts    the   mercv   of   ChrLln!^!       • 
order  to   save    his 'own    life,   h"U  t^gt^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Hicts  Hdl  bestow  the  "mercy"  of  Christianity  He 
cannot  be  a  Christian  in  accepting  mercy  and  turn 
round  and  be  a  Jew  in  demanding  justice  He  "..AT 
ether  al,  Jew  or  all  Christian,  aVd'hrmusfnoT  tlk^ 
'Cy.  Brandes,  op.  dt.  p.  165. 


166 


Hamlet,  an  liJral  Prince 


his  choice  once  arui  for  till. 

The   only   way   that   medin-val   ChriNtianH   couhi   see 
to  acconiphsh  this  purpose  wa«  to  den.and  of  Shylock 
that  he  formally  accept  baptism.     It  is  very  true  that 
to  us  there  mi^ht  be  other  ways  of  drawing  the  faniw 
of  Shylock   and  of  guaranteeing  consistency,   but   to 
them   there   was   no  other  way.     They   knew  of  only 
two    creeds,    two    religions,    and    two    moral    codes,— 
the   Jewish    and    the   Christian.      They    did    not   dis- 
tinguish between  the  creed  and  the  ethics  of  Christian- 
ity,   and   to    assure    themselves    that    Shylock    should 
adopt  the  practice  of  Christianity,  they  compelled  him 
to  accept  its  creeds  and   its  forms.     As  a  guarantee 
that  henceforth  Shylock  should  live  according  to  their 
principles,  they  obliged  him  to  be  baptized.     Antonio 
was  certainly  justified  in  putting  Shvlock  under  bonds 
to  b**  more  merciful  the  next  time  he  had  a  Christian 
in  his  power;  and  the  only  way  he  knew  to  accomplish 
this  was  to  require  him  formally  to  become  a  Christian. 
And  this  is  also  sufficient  justification  for  the  dramatist. 
The  closing  words  of  Judge  Holmes,  in  the  article 
previously  cited,  seem  appropriate  at  this  point:  "And, 
on  the  whole,  we  have  a  strong  conviction   that   the 
imaginary  Jew  of  the  Middle  Ages   (as   the  mythical 
type  of  him  had  become  fixed  in  the  popular  mind  of 
that  age),  not  merely  as  Jew,  but  as  another  name  for 
the  unconscionable  usurer  and  soulless  money-getter  of 
all  sects  and  ages,  really  got  his  deserts  from  first  to 
last  at  the  hands  of  both  judge  and  poet,  and  that 
the  ideal  judge  intended  to  teach  the  ideal  Jew  that 
there  was  in  the  poet's  Venice  both  law  and  equity, 
that  strict  law  was   not  always   justice,   and   that   it 
was  better  for  all  men  to  season  justice  with  mercy 
than  to  contrive  a  wicked  fraud,  in  a  relentless  spirit 


VJ3 


'^: 


■^i 


^M^i" 


The  Merchant  of  Venice  i^ 

Duke  said—        ^  '  J"**"*^  ^"d  niorcy-a.  the 

(IV.  I.  6-8.) 

vni 
understood.    "Thel  *w„r5i%  ^*''  t'*^"  generally  mis- 

the  end  of  the  fourth  art  J^  a^?^^^  ^J-iappoar*  with 
•"«r  the  lmrm„„;of  the Von."h  r  *''"'  ""  ^'^^"^^^  '"«3^ 
o^  hi*  fifth  act,  Shake«;r  dS  «^  —« 

«nce  of  pain  and  a\omn  .«  ,,"'"P'**'^''  «n.V  preponder- 
the  pIa/» .  Rrtht  ««  rA^if"?'*^  impresaTon  of 
primarily  the  «tory  of  Anin-""^''"!  ?^  ^"^^  '« 
it  was  nece««nry  for  the  Hr  T°.  '^"'^  ^^'^  ^"'^"da, 
the  completed  LcofLJ'  /"  P'"'^^^"'  *''^«'-'3' 

been  the^an.  of^.^^^^^^^,^  that  had 

Some.     In  blending  the    ^71"-  "^1?/"  '"  *''*-  ^rial 

»'>^-  »"nd  the  dramatist  had  °T*.  ^""^'^^  ""'^ 
«  »>otter  and  lar^r  " Inl  ""'^^^''talcen  t„  work  out 

t«ined  in  the  okUtor'l  T  h"%  '^**'"''  '^"*'  ^«"- 
;;i"n.phed  in  PortiaN^nv  ,  ^'/r;^  '^•^^  '"7  '-^ 
the  close  of  this  act  the  vllv^l        Antonjo.  a.ul  with 

"f  highest  passion.  lUf  frlw^  "r';  ^'","^  ^'"^  P"i"* 
"fth  act  is\.ecessarv  to  om^r'n''  '""'  ''.'^•"-"-"^ 
i;Kv  as  a  whole,  by  depi^Z  n    "'", ""•'"""*?  "^  the 

'«p.  c«.  p.  167,  »'"'• 


168 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


The  success  of  Bassanio's  quest  for  Portia's  lovr 
had  provided  a  champion  for  his  sorely  pressed  friend 
and  bondsman,  Antonio,  and  liad  Ixcome  the  moann 
whereby  he  was  released  from  impending  death  through 
the^  fo;  feiture  of  his  bond.  The  legal  skill  of  Bassa- 
nio's wife  has  repaid  many  times  the  value  of  the  money 
Antonio  had  expended  on  fitting  out  the  expedition 
to  Belmont.  Portia's  love  for  her  husband  had  urged 
her  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  his  friend  and  ha<l  inspired 
her  to  use  her  best  endeavors  on  his  behalf. 

Shakespeare,  therefore,  was  not  content  to  close  the 
story  of  Bassanio  and  Portia  without  depicting  their 
completed  love  after  the  trying  time  of  the  Trial  Scene. 
To  him  love  exists  not  for  its  enjoyment  or  its  beauty, 
but  for  its  moral  and  spiritual  value  and  for  its  social 
uses.  After  portraying,  then,  with  exquisite  taste 
the  beautiful  Caskets  Scene  and  showing  the  self-aban- 
doning love  of  Bassanio  for  the  fair  Portia,  he  left  the 
love  story  until  he  had  depicted  the  triumph  of  love 
in  Portia's  efforts  in  behalf  of  her  husband's  frientl 
in  his  danger  from  Shylock. 

But  now  that  love  has  discharged  its  function  in  the 
rescue  of  Antonio  and  even  in  the  sparing  of  the  life 
of  Shylock,  the  dramatist  once  more  returns  to  the  love 
story  and  gives  us  pictures  of  the  happiness  of  the  lov- 
ers themselves.  The  exquisite  moonlight  scene  depicts 
the  perfect  love  and  happiness  of  Lorenzo  and  his 
lovely  Jessica,  and  the  beautiful  comedy  of  the  rings 
reveals  in  a  most  striking  manner  the  noble  part  of 
Portia  in  the  release  of  Antonio.  Nothing  could  have 
served  more  admirably  to  enhance  Bassanio's  love  for 
Portia,  or  to  assure  him  that  his  love  was  fully  recip- 
rocated. The  element  of  romance  in  their  love  has  bei'n 
absorbed  into  the  great  reality  of  complete  devotion 


The  Merchmt  of  Venice  159 

..  Prof...::;  R.iir,.";'  ti  "''™"'^  •'-"•-«o„,, 

completion  of  the  f.,o  Xrie^  of  tU'""'r '^  '°  "'^ 
the  pUv.  stones  of  the  earlier  part  of 

.«I!:io'rr„tett°r/H'''V''  '*""■''  ■>' "» pi-^ 

conception  that  ^r  U  1  tr.,e'''"'f"'.'".*'^'"*''  ••" 
reconciler  nf  .11  „       1  "'  ""''  '"'•"•'I  '  'e  only 

all  tW  t'nfltr'ort ,  '"pTaT  "xife'l'"-  Yn  '""  '°'-^ 
Portia  a„<l  their  unUcS  iL  ^r  ^11""'"^  """ 
hand,  and  the  love  of  I  n«.n,„      j  Antonio,  on  the  one 

«.»fK^»t  that  an  ,uch  cSt^^arr-  °"  "'-^  °;''"' 
<1-  .1.0  sweet  and  hoi,  "S^rnlrofCe.  Irr ':",  2' 
differences  amonc  men  are  rJ„o  f„  •  j  ^^^  *''  *«« 
not  to  inherent  antT^^onrsms  "nrf  "  IL""^'"**^"^'"^* 
love.  This  conclusion  oftr'pW  ill  °''T"^'  ^^ 
Hll  the  closinir  scenes  of  SkA'^  ^'  then,  presents  as  do 

final  solution^nrclKXtalr  '^  '""  '^"^ 


"il 


m  • 


OTHELLO: 

THE    XaAOEDY    OF    A    MOOR    m    VENICE 


in 


CHAPTER  IV 
OTHELLO: 

THE    T.AOKDV    OK    A    MOOE    IS    VKNICE 
I 

OtheUo  .„d   iSr  1  fe  t  "™  "  ""The""  r"  "V  " 
Moor's  difficulties  RnHtJ     J  .     ®  "**»^e   of  the 

Phe  have  brought  the  ^t  T  P^*^°l°^  ^'«  ^'^*«'tro- 
oms  of  men  tha^  ant  o^  ^tthJ  *"  *JV'^^^  '^"^  ^»- 
general  excellence  Tf  thl  .h         *    *^T*  tra^dies.  The 
Moor,  and  of  DeslJ^oL   thTf      "^  ^^^^"°'  '^^  »°W« 
lather  with  the  a!ZZZ  nature' fTh'  °'  ^^"^?'  *- 
flict  have  made  OthellnVhn  "**"/!  °^  *h^>r  marital  con- 
most  moving  of  a'JlteUgedT^^^^  -^  the 
persons  who  can  observe  whhcnrn^,-'^^^'^''    ^^*"3^ 
awful  conflict  of  IfZ  fTther      P^*'"*'^'  ^^h""^»«  t^^ 
tious  daughters  in  ^„  /           «nd   ungrateful,  ambi- 
the  app,iL,  X^-?  OthelloTmlr  VT''-%»>^ 
of  h«  young  and  beautiful  wffe     1 W I        ^"^.'""'^^r 
1q  seems  more  titanic    a^Th!"    ^Jf  P"^^'«"  of  Othel- 
elemental  than  tharoV  ^ng  LTr       *  T°"  ^^*^L-^ 
relationships  seems  less  «  tf     !i     x,       *"  """'"  °^  ^^a' 
and  failure  of  t^e  mAifal     f f^  ^^L*^"  *^^'  "^^''throw 
that  befalls  Desdemon;  ov  "''^ *'""!»"?'  «"<!  the  fate 

which  befalls  CwSa      ^ZZtTHf  *^"  ^^^^ 

173  Bradley  has  truly 


174 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


i 


said,  "There  is  no  subject  more  exciting  than  sexual 
jealousy  rising  to  the  pitch  of  passion;  and  there  can 
hardly  be  any  spectacle  at  once  so  engrossing  and  so 
painful  as  that  of  a  great  nature  suffering  the  torment 
of  this  passion,  and  driven  by  it  to  a  crime  which  is 
also  a  hideous  blunder."  * 

While  all  have  been  impressed  by  the  deep  and  ab- 
sorbing passion  of  the  play,  it  has  not  always  been  for 
the  same  reason.  Shocked  as  all  have  been  by  the  awful 
catastrophe,  the  real  nature  of  the  conflict  and  of  the 
outcome  has  been  variously  interpreted.  The  very 
intensity  of  the  passion  has  doubtless  confused  our 
notions,  and  sympathy  and  horror  have  often  taken  the 
place  of  careful  study  and  clear  thinking.  Admiration 
for  the  "noble  Moor,"  compassion  for  the  "divine  Des- 
demona,"  and  scorn  for  the  intriguing  lago,  have  mis- 
guided our  judgments,  have  obscured  the  story  of  tho 
l)lay  and  the  very  words  that  should  reveal  the  true 
character  and  actual  deeds  of  the  persons.  In  soim- 
cases  both  artistic  sensibility  and  moral  judgment  have 
been  paralyzed,  until  Othello  has  become  a  perfect 
hero,  Desdemona  a  spotless  saint,  and  poor  lago  a 
fiend  incarnate.  Instead  of  appreciating  the  play  as 
it  is  written,  and  perceiving  the  informing  thought  of 
the  dramatist,  this  emotional  criticism  has  made  the 
injurer  noble,  his  chief  victim  a  saint,  the  injured  ii 
devil,  and  Shakespeare — fooiish. 

OtheUo  has  doubtless  been  very  difficult  of  interpre- 
tation. More  than  half  a  century  ago  the  Edinburgh 
Review  (1850)  expressed  only  the  truth  when  it  said 
that  "all  critics  of  name  have  been  perplexed  by  the 
moral  enigma  which  lies  under  this  tragic  tale."  Since 
*£rAai««pMr«<m  Tragedy,  pp.  177-8.    London,  9nd  edition,  1905. 


\       ' 


OtheUo 


n« 


universal  that  U  rthe"  ^r'  r*""'""  ^^'  ^^^^"""^  «"  but 
^•»ve  made  it  difficult  T„  T^'?''  "'  ^^''^  P'«3^  th«t 
jeara.  n.oreover.have  fo  ced  th  "*""^-  •  '^'''^  ?--"« 
«tudent«  that  a.,  tirenij^^^^  J^.^.^^^'*^*'""  "P«"  '"^nj 
othe«,  i«  «„,oral,"  so  thf  L.  "  •  /"'  ^'*^'  ^"'^  °^  "'«">' 
«^i«e  be  "moral."     Tl      II"^'"*''"^'^*"*'^"  ">"«*  ''k*^ 

"moral  e„ig,„a»„uJtn!"fr  "  ^'^"^  *'"^'  "  * 
iution  of  the  moraTLpec  /„  \r'?  "'  '^'l  .^'"""^  *  - 
reached  onJjr  bv  a  due  con«.vf  .•  *''"^;  ^^'""'^  ^«»  be- 
relation,  o/thc^^arlrus"::  7*1"'.^"  ^'^^  "•"^"' 
«''"Je  it  must  be  adinitt.rl  thl  ^''^^  '^''"""^-     ^n«' 

have  proven  entire^  atistt ""  "T'''*'"'"  *^"^  ^- 
attempts  to  unravel  the- W°'^'  ^^'^  "'""^  '^"n<^«^ 
successes    up   to   the    '  *  i'"'^*     '""'"'^  *''^  O"':^ 

«.^e  with  tL^Ut/rsr^'Tra^nr  -''''''^  '- 

't  as  we  see  it  unfolded  ,?T'  ^  "^^^  ^^'^^  °"^^^  ^n^^r 
dramatists  up  to  Ws  time  he  ^^k-^'',  ^''^'  ««  ^^e 
themselves,  and  unl  ke  1  i  !*  ^\'  P^*3^«  ^P^'^k  for 
no  word  of  colTJitrpL  :  L^'^^^^^^^^^^ 

interpret  their  dramas  But  Sh  ?'P°"'  *"^  ^^^°  *« 
no  dedications  and  no  prefaces  '1^^ ''^^  ''''  "^ 
anywhere  his  conception  nfVh^f  !-  ^  ^*'  revealed 
it  is  in  Hamlet's  dTrSo„s  to  th.  T*'°"  °'  *^^  ^^»™« 
not  help  us  in  the1„tcrn-f  *'  ^  ^^/"'  ^""^  *^"«^  ^« 
P%.  Whether  ThaVt^^fr^S^^^^^  tT'  ^'^^^'^"^'^^ 
most  other  Endish  dramnfilf  ^^'^T^d   the   opmion   of 

that  the  drama  should  not  "onlv".  '"*'?  °^  ^'«  *'"'- 
audience  we  cannot"to:^Tr  ^et^  Th  "1  ^^t  '^' 
of  stud,  have  not  ,et  made  cW^his     t't^t^ude^t^rd 


176 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


the  principle  of  "poetic  juaticc,*'  as  the  moral  aspects 
of  the  drama  came  later  to  be  called.  To  this  day  the 
discussion  has  gone  on,  and  many  students  are  inclined 
to  think  that  in  Othello  and  other  plays  he  has  ignored 
this  principle  altogether.* 

In  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  when 
criticism  was  almost  entirely  didactic,  it  was  all  but 
unanimously  agreed  that  Shakespeare  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  moral  subjects  or  to  ethical  forces.  The  bur- 
den of  the  critics  from  Rynier  to  Johnson  w»is  thnt 
Shakespeare  had  violated  all  our  fundamental  notions 
of  "poetic  justice,"  or  in  other  words  had  paid  no 
attention  whatsoever  to  moral  considerations.  In  his 
discussion  of  this  subject  Rymer  chose  Othello,  as  Pro- 
fessor Alden  has  recently  said,  "to  show  the  ejftremo 
results  of  neglecting  this  principle,  on  the  part  of  the 
more  or  less  barbarous  Elizabethans.  What  unnatural 
crime  had  Desdemona  committed  to  bring  such  judg- 
ment upon  her?"  Rymer*s  own  words  are  very  strong: 
"What  instruction  can  be  made  out  of  this  catastro> 
phe?  .  .  .  How  can  it  work,  unless  to  delude  our 
senses,  disorder  our  thought,  addle  our  brain,  pervert 
our  affections,  corrupt  our  appetite,  and  fill  our  head 
with  vanity,  confusion,  tintamarre,  and  jingle-jan- 
gle?** '  The  same  opinion  was  still  held  in  the  time  of 
Dr.  Johnson,  nearly  a  century  later.  In  the  preface 
to  his  edition  of  Shakespeare  Johnson  says :  "His  first 
defect  is  that  ...  he  sacrifices  virtue  to  convenience, 
and  is  so  much  more  careful  to  please  than  to  instruct, 
that  lie  seems  to  write  without  any  moral  purpose  .  .  . 

^Cf.  Quinlan,  Po»tie  Juttict  in  <*•  ;»  »'/?o;  Th*  History  of 
an  Ethical  Primeiple  in  Uttrary  CrUicimn,  University  Press, 
Notre   Dame,   Indiana,  U.   S.   A.,   I9!£. 

*0f.  Professor  R.  M.  Alden,  ♦The  Decline  of  Poetic  Jus- 
tice,*' AtUmtte  Monthly,  Febniarjr,  1910,  pp.  960-7. 


■^^;U' 


OtheUo 


177 


tion  0/  the  wicM.         »  "''"°""  *  *«PProb.- 

•hould  Sot  Tiolat.  our /li™  tT"**  *.■""  "■'  ''"">■« 
W"tor»  of  thrBr,V^  J     /T""'"!'  """■•'  "ot'oM-    The 

"iticif/ Jot''  r^  t;M^^  '»  E„«U.h 

pi  ed  itself  to  th.  «.„7      »f  •   ','"'"«"'  •"»•  «Iw«y,  ap- 

but  wc  rh«n  find  th^t  tVe?"*-  I"""?.-'  ""  ^""■•. 
tion.  of  the  prine  pie  heW  T^^k'"'  ""?  '""""'  ™"«P- 
«nth  centurie.  were  ho^ll    "".''""teenth  and  eight- 

in*  «nd  ro™a„'tirELa°£ha"'iT„1"'"^;!:  'V"^'"' 
wel  a.  the  dram.  „f  that  p^^.^  falW.  "h'T"; 
dealing  adequately  with  larm^  3  l-  •  ''°'''  "•' 

and  whenXy  .«e™pt.L To  l^te  ^eT  12^ ''''■•'"•' 
the.r  Imitation,  became  very  apCeSt  Th f*"^ 
Penod  wa.  utterly  unable  to  deafwHh  .„vlrr„,°in".' 

°T„  'fV"?"  .*"•'  1"  '"•'  "  Shake,^"^.''"'"""*  '* 

In  the  nineteenth  century  there  a^n..  . 
of  romantic  critic,  who  knew  not  the  T    ■  «^""*tion 
-(!«.  of  Rymer  and  Joh„.„„     Thet  tZ^l^l  ^ 
earlier    critic,    demanded    th.t    et  ^     ^  *'*''  "» 
■quare  him.elf  with  o7r  ™„,  i      ^^"^V^n    .hould 

had  outlived  the  ,or,^"aH,m  of    '^'^''T'  """  '^y 

look  for  an  rpu:  tlt,?tv'in''thr'  ""7  5^«*"  '» 
conduct  of  the  SarratTv^Zhe  p,ty.  ."ndTn"'"!;  •■"■ 
opened  up  the  mo.t  fruitful  of  afc  :  Vh"a    .'p^r? 


MIOtOCOfY    RESOIUTION   TEST  CHART 

(ANSI  ond  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


1.0 


I.I 


KS 

IS. 


2.0 


1^ 

14.0 


1 


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^  APPLIED  IIVHGE    Inc 

^^  1653  East  Main  StrMt 

STf  Rochester.  New  York        14P09      USA 

'-as  (716)   482 -0300- Ptione 

^B  (716)   288- S9S9  -Fo> 


178 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


The  first  of  this  long  line  of  able  critics  was  Cole- 
ridge, with  whom  as  a  recent  writer  has  said,  "Rational 
appreciation  may  be  said  to  begin  in  England."  *  It 
was  a  vast  step  forward  in  criticism  when  this  groat 
man,  poet  and  critic  in  one,  laid  aside  the  idea  that 
Shakespeare  was  in  need  either  of  revision  or  criticism, 
and  inaugurated  the  modern  attempt  at  interpretation. 
Though  succeeding  ages  have  found  plenty  of  reason 
for  dissenting  from  many  of  his  opinions  we  have  never 
really  departed  from  his  method  of  interpretation. 

In  his  study  of  Othello,  as  of  other  plays,  Coleridge 
made  a  diligent  search  for  the  dramatic  motive,  and 
tried  to  find  out  the  underlying  reason  for  the  catastro- 
phe that  had  puzzled  earlier  critics.  Instead  of  trying 
to  show  defects  in  Shakespeare's  notions  of  poetic  jus- 
tice, he  attempted  to  find  the  reason  if  not  the  justifi- 
cation for  the  catastrophe.  Carefully  surveying  the 
play,  he  reached  the  conviction  that  in  Othello  Shake- 
speare was  portraying  a  man  whose  misfortunes  were 
due  to  the  intrigue  of  another,  and  were  not  intended 
by  the  dramatist  to  appear  as  retribution  for  any  of 
his  own  misdeeds.  In  lago  and  his  evil  mind  Coleridge 
found  the  sole  cause  of  Othello's  tragic  end.  To  lago's 
"motiveless  malignity"  must  be  ascribed,  he  says,  the 
entire  catastrophe.  This  man  is  "a  being  next  to  devil, 
and  only  not  quite  devil."  ^  It  is  his  evil  and  jealous 
mind  that  works  all  the  harm  done  to  Othello  and  his 
wife. 

From  this  it  is  clear  at  any  rate  that  Coleridge  saw 
the  importance  of  a  right  understanding  of  the  rela- 
tions of  Othello  and  lago  for  a  proper  comprehension 

^Johnson,  Shakespeare  and  His  Critics,  p.  18;  Houghton,  Mifflin 
&  Co.,  1909. 
'Lectures  on  Shakespeare  (Bohn's  Library),  p,  388. 


t,^(%   ,»■ 


Othello 


179 


and  interpretation  of  the  play.     It  will  appear,  how- 

Z\Zr  P'°rV^*  ^"^^^^^^^"  overlooked  some  of 
he  most  important  factors  in  the  relations  of  these 
two  and  that  he  had  not  shaken  off  entirely  the  e  ^t- 
eenth  century  habit  of  trying  to  forn.  our  own  op  nfon 
the  dnun!^-  r  ■'  characters,  instead  of  ascertaining 
the  dramatist  s  opinion.  It  is  of  course  permissible 
for  any  one  to  differ  from  the  dramatist  abou^any  of 
his  characters,  but  it  is  not  permissible  to  substitute 
this  opinion  for  the  dramatist's,  and  then  on  th^  basis 
charge  the  dramatist  with  being  inartistic  or  with  a 
violation  of  our  moral  principled.     Even  less  sal^sfac- 

?  mheir'^H  n'^f  "'^^'^  *^^^*"^^"^  "^  t'-  -1-tions 
whi?h  L  n"!.  .^'''^''"°"^'  ^  P^°P^^  understanding  of 
which  IS  al  but  as  important  as  that  of  Othello  and 

Br-thI,M  rT  ^f  r"  '^^  *^^^  --^t  --ful  stud>' 
But,  though  Coleridge's  treatment  of  these  two  topics 
has  not  settled  the  interpretation  of  the  play  it  can 
be  freely  maintained  that  the  method  he  adoptd  s  the 
only    hopeful    method    for    the   interpretation   o       he 


In  the  matter  of  Othello  and  lago,  it  cannot  fairly 
h  maintained  hat  lago  was  the  .ole  cause  of  the 
calamities  that  befell  Othello.  In  general  it  must  b^ 
said  that  there  is  no  Shakespearean  tragedy  in  which 
the  responsibility  for  the  deed  of  the  hero  an^d  the  sub? 
sequent  tragedy  can  be  shifted  from  him  to  another 
person  of  the  play  Shakespeare  no  doubt  did  not  have 
he  conception  of  the  influence  of  social  forces  that 
ome  modern  dramatists  display,  for  that  is  a  concep- 
tion belonging  to  the  nineteenth  cent.iry.     Professor 


180 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


Stoll  may  be  correct  when  he  says  that  "In  no  case 
docs    Shakespeare    represent   men   as    overwhelmed   by 
anythmg  so  vague  and  neutral  as  social  forces,"  but  he 
Js  surely  incorrect  j»rhen  he  adds,  "or  as  devoured  by 
their  own  passions  alone."  ^     It  is  this  very  conception 
of  the  consuming  and  destructive  power  of'passion  tiiat 
marks    the    superiority    of   Shakespeare's    conceptions 
over  that  of  his   contemporaries.     This   "fatalism  of 
overmastering  passion,"  as  it  has  been  called  by  Pro- 
fessor Corson,^  is  the  distinguishing  feature  of  Shake- 
speare's conception  of  man's  relation  to  the  world,  and 
marks  the  culmination  of  the  Elizabethan  drama,  and 
its  superiority  to  the  classical  drama  where  men  are 
overcome  by  external  fate.     In  the  case  of  Othello,  as 
of  all  the  other  tragedies,  it  is  the  passion  of  the  hero 
that  IS  the  mainspring  of  all  the  action  of  the  play  that 
finally  and  certainly  destroys  the  hero.     There  aie  two 
or  three  types  of  such  passion  in  Shakespeare,  accord- 
ing to  their  moral  character,  but  all  alike  give  rise  to 
the  action  of  the  play  and  lead  the  hero  to  his  fate. 

Beginning,  then,  with  this  passion,  it  is  the  art  of 
Shakespeare  to  place  his  characters  under  those  con- 
ditions that  will  show  the  true  nature  of  their  passion 
and  develop  it  to  its  fullness  and  to  its  fated  end.  It 
is  one  of  Shakespeare's  supreme  excellences  that  he 
realized  that  "every  man  is  tempted  when  he  is  drawn 
away  of  his  own  lusts  and  enticed,"  and  that  every 
man's  condemnation  comes  from  the  development  of 
his  own  passions.  It  was  under  the  sway  of  this  con- 
ception that  Shakespeare  brought  Othello  into  his  fatal 
conflict  with  lago,  for  this  drew  from  him  all  the  hid- 

*C/.    "Criminals    in    Shakespeare    and   in   Science,"   by   B    E 
Stoll,  in  Modem  PhUolopy,  Vol.  X,  p.  59.  /       •      • 

'Cf.  Corson,  Introduction  to  Shakespeare,  Preface. 


Othello 


181 


den  passion  of  h.s  nature.     To  make  lago  the  sole  cause 
of  the  tragedy  that  bc-feJl  Othello  is  to  seek  outside  the 
hunmn  heart   for  the  causes   of  human  failure      The 
wonder  ,s  that  Coleridge,  philosopher  and  genius  tha 
he  was,  could  content  hhnself  with  an  explanation  tha 
does  such  violence  to  a  true  moral  psychology.     Bu 
Colendge  may  have  had  a  personal  interest  hf  laying 
the  blame  outside  the  soul  of  the  one  who  is  overconf 
by  weakness   or  by  fate.     OtheUo,  like  all  of  ShalS- 
TirZll  ^T,' '"  r  "^'^"^^  °^  character,  not  a  drama  of 

17^     V  .?      T^^  Vy  ^^^'^^"^  '^""^y  of  the  leading 
topics  of  the  play  will  make  this  clear.  ^ 

The  attempt  to  solve  the  moral  difficulties  of  OtJiello 
has  never  been  ^ven  up  entirely,  though  quite  recently 
t^o  distinguished  critics  have  taken  "the  moralists"  to 
task,  and  have  appeared  to  think  that  the  chief  excel- 

avs\^t  "Th      "^N!^?  T^'  a  vigorous  attack,  and 
says  that     1  he  moralists  have  been  eager  to  lay  the 

tT  h  f  h'''  uT''  ""  ^*^^"°'  «^  Sesdemona,  or 
l^th  but  the  whole  meaning  of  the  play  would  vanish 
if  they  were  successful."  ^  Professor  Bradley,  in  a 
somewhat  similar  strain,  rejects  all  the  more  obvious 
interpretations  of  the  play,  because,  as  he  says,  they 
reduce  Shakespeare  to  common-place."  2  ^^^i^  ^^^^ 
refuse  to  give  credence  to  any  view  that  does  not  make 
Shakespeare  subtle  and  far-fetched  and  mystical.  They 
seem  ready  to  reject  alike  what  is  common-place  and 
common-sense.-^  ^ 

m  ^LoXTim"^"'''^  ^^"  ""  L«"««'"  E--iey  edition,  p. 
'Shakespearean  Tragedy,  p.  208 

thing  in  the  world  to  Md,  wSer  tSen  .,  TiL?""'^":'"* 
by  Piece.    Truth  1.  ...„ed  WithtroVt?  Mt^^^l  ^^u^ 


Ii' 


I8J2 


Hamlet,  mi  Ideal  Prince 


I  I.e  names  (,f  these  two  eminent  critics  have  carried 
more  weight  m  some  quarters  than  their  theories  have 
deserved    and  some  students  have  Ixc.  too  willing  to 
give  up  the  search  for  a  true  moral  interpretation  of 
the  plays.     Others,  however,  dissatisfied  with  this  com- 
plete moral  sc'pticism  of  Shakespeare,  and  with  this 
substitution  of  the  critic's  fancy  for  the  poet's  vision, 
have  made  attempts  to  find  a  larger  moral  meaning  for 
the  plays,  and  have  tried  to  assign  some  kind  of  large 
spiritual  principles  in  place  of  the  plain  moral  prin- 
ciples It  was  thought  necessary  to  abandon.     The  sug- 
gestion has  been  made  that  in  cases  like  that  of  Des- 
demona  there  is  only  an  apparent  defeat  and  nemesis, 
but  that  in  reahty  there  is  a  much  higher  spiritual  vin- 
dication, and  that  the  close  of  the  play  marks  a  com- 
plete spiritual  triumph  in  which  the  human  spirit  re- 
mains    essentially  unconquered."     Professor  Alden,  as 
the  latest  spokesman  of  this  view,  says,  "If  the  love  of 
Desdemona  had  perished  in  the  face  of  injustice  and 
falsehood,  then  we  should  have  had  indeed  a  chaos  of 
spiritual  wreckage,  a  poetical  injustice  for  which  no 
mere  beauty  of  form  could  easily  atone.     But  on  the 
contrary   there   remains   in  each  case,  amid  the  very 
crash  and  vanishing  of  all  earthly  hope,  a  spirit  that 
transcends  common  humanity  as  far  as  its  suffering  has 
transcended  common  experience,  proving  anew  throun-h 
poetry  that  the  world  of  the  senses  is  'inferior  to  the 

frnm^i!*  '"il*'  ^'"''li-''  ""''  *''*^'"'^  '^  "°  *^«t  «t  hand  to  ten  one 

S.«icJ  •     7-'^   historical  spirit."     "Everybody  has  his  own 

Shakespeare,  m  h,s  own  image  and  after  his  own  heart.    A  senti- 
ment transforms  a   feature  ...  or  a  sentiment  exaggerates  the 
beauty  and  significance  of  features  already  there!"     E    E    Stoll 
article  on  "Anachronism  in  Shakespeare  Criticism,"   pp.  557-57,5' 
Modern.  Philolof/y,  Vol.  VII,  Xo.  4,  April    1<)10 


Othello 


183 


soul.'  »  1 

This,   as    criticism,   soiins    somrwlnf    K^**        e 

k'nrJ  nf  ,.v,-f  •      i^'"'^'P^<^s-      «ut,   unfortunatclv,  this 

K.na  of  criticism  makes  a  demand  of  n«  fKo* 

e 'it inn  «^  4.U     i.  "<-iiiHna  or  us  that  no  iren- 

malignantly  potent  trifles  looming  so  big  forThe  mn 
tic".      .'•"  """'  ""y  "•"■•<^'  "f  "rtive  jus- 

nf  "t\»  ""T""-' ,"  '*  '"'Po^siW'!  to  admit.    The  writer 
of    Job"  explicitly  declares  that  Job  was  a  r,„l^. 
man,  and  that  his  misfortune,  were  entrrey  due  "Z 
malignity  of  the  evil  one.    Neither  were  his  misfortunes 

Bible,  the  misKr  hat  are  objttiveTk:^  1"  '"" 

:rdo"sr'^U\-i^«rof  th«'~^^ 

parents."  o'r  in  other  Zdwer    Z^^^^  „°/  *"''; 
conditions  for  which  they  were  pTrsonaU;  Ho  1^;: 
sponsible.     About  their  misfortunes,  hoLver.tlt^e  L 

■/6*VW''  '"'"'"'  "'""•'!>■  """""T.  1910.  p.  867. 


184 


11 
i  ■? 


^■1 


H 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


not  the  slightest  suggestion  of  retribution,  and  as  Car- 
Ij'le  long  ago  observed,  their  apparent  defeat  is  really  a 
moral  victory.  But  it  is  very  different  with  Othello 
and  Desdemona,  for  there  is  an  element  of  retribution 
in  their  misfortunes.  The  play  explicitly  depicts 
them  as  the  authors  of  all  the  elements  of  their  social 
conditions  that  give  rise  to  their  conflicts  and  subse- 
quent misfortunes. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  Othello  was  not  a 
son  of  Venice,  but  a  foreigner,  and  moreover  a  for- 
eigner of  a  different  race  and  color,  with  all  that 
that  means  of  divergence  of  mind  and  character.  More- 
over, there  was  no  conflict  between  Romeo  and  Juliet, 
for  their  love  was  perfect,  but  the  conflict  was  between 
their  united  and  unwavering  love  and  the  hostility  of 
their  families.  In  the  case  of  Othello  and  Desdemona 
the  conflict  becomes  acute  and  finally  fatal  between 
husband  and  wife,  and  from  this  the  play  takes  its 
character  of  a  hapless  mismarriago. 

All  these  unsuccessful  attempts  to  understand  the 
drama  come  from  long-continued  but  erroneous  habits 
of  interpretation.  The  plays  have  been  treated  as  if 
they  were  historical  documents  and  not  works  of  poetic 
imagination.  Historical  documents  have  to  be  evalu- 
ated by  the  student,  and  often  parts  are  judged  to 
be  unauthentic  and  hence  of  little  or  no  value.  But 
literary  products  cannot  be  treated  in  this  manner,  for 
every  word  of  a  great  poet  has  been  elaborated  with 
curious  care  and  is  of  value  to  the  whole,  and  cannot 
be  ignored.  Some  critics  who  regret  that  we  have  no  ex- 
ternal comments  of  Shakespeare  upon  his  plays  per- 
sistently ignore  the  numerous  comments  the  drama- 
tist has  made  within  the  plays.  It  must  be  claimed  that 
Shakespeare's  dramatic   methods   are   not   subtle  and 


Othello 


185 


unfortunate V  hj.  luoit"\Tu'°-^°^  '""  "'>  ""d 

-«™pt,  to  mHko  L^±"''"'  f"""  '■''  -"■"'  "bvious 
all  Lis  ow.,  eo„,m..„  ,  T  "^  '■''^"■•'  f  d  h«ve  misled 
pluvs.      We  h,,      ^..  '"'■  "'"  ***'  l"'y»  to  his 

plot  of  tl,c  dra,„as  an  1 ,'  *^  T  ""  ™"''"'^*  "'  *-^^ 
of  Ins  plan  the  ""';  Ist ' '  oJ  fh  f  '"  ?"'?'  «»  P"' 
lio  has  elaborated  w,-  I,        I  P'"-*"  themselves  that 

der  if  we  iZtl™  to"  V" r"*','"'  »'""•  ^o  -„n- 
P%s  have  no  n.^  t"o  t"  "<]:-3rotr':S!  '''"  ""  ""^ 

m 

Let  us  begin,  then,  our  study  of  thJ^  r^J       u       ^ 

serving  very  carefully  whatever  comment  S»^  ^  ^ 
has  made  unon  if      tC,  tu      ^*^^  comment  Shakespeare 

of  VeniceX^hL  the  d'rl"^,".*'  <''*'"''•  '*^  ^"O' 
play  is  to  be  the  storv  „f  „        ."•'  %r"""^'"  ^at  the 

Imd-"  abandoned  h'„Tt,°tja'nd/r/'  °""'"°'  "h" 
residence  and  life  i^  h.  n  r  ^  • '""'  *''''™  "P  >•" 
doing  this  Othelll^ad  {eft  ^^:tL^:^-  ■  "i 
and  undertook  to  live  his  IJfp  ,n  r  •  ^^'  ""^  Spain,» 
Both  Africa  and  Spain^'et  Z^^T.^I^,''^:^^^ 

'Shakespeare,  in  IV  ii  9<tT  o 
the  native  country  of  6  hello  who".-,  k  P°'"*  *°  Mauritania  as 
a  Moor  in  the  proper  sense  of 'tl^  «  hence  to  be  regarded  as 
ooast  of  Africl  KarT  the  west  '  V'*''!"^  ^''^^^^Ln 
be  observed,  was  used  by  EngHsh  writ;,?"'""'  ^°^«''er.  it  may 
all  the  dark  races  seem,  hv  soSllZ  I  "".'■^  extensively,  and 
prehended  under  it."  Hunter  LrJ^'/^-^^  '^«"^'^'i  ««  com- 
II.  p.  280.  Quoted  by  Furness  f^Tv  '""""'"""  «/'  Shakespeare, 
all  probabimy  ShakeVe^  thought  ^fTtlfif'^^^^  I'-  ^^O-  I« 
wh.ch  for  ion,  had  beL  ^^^^^^iS^r^^ZJA 


18(J 


Ilamht,  an  Ideal  Prince 


{t^9g<HH 

H^^HS'  ^< 

^^■9 

aCTBWWB^ 

^^^*^^^^B  ^H 

.   ,J!-^^^^^^m     .;^^H 

S^-^^^l  ^1 

^^^^■I'it 

^^^^_         ^ 

^^^^B  ail 

■■■ni'^ 

"'n^^H  ^H 

nvn  unci  other  Europeans  as  barbaric  or  semi-barbaric, 
while  the  Venetians  were  looked  upon  as  the  most  civ- 
ilized ami  cultured  people  of  Europe.'      The  change 
took  Othello  among  another  race  of  another  color,  one 
that  bhakespeare  and  most  of  his  countrymen  of  what- 
ever time  considered  a  much  superior  race.     Now  if 
Shakespeare  had  any  aptness  in  giving  titles   to  his 
plays,  and  did  not  add  mere  idle  words,  the  play  must 
be  considered  "primarily  a  study  of  a  noble  barbarian 
who  had  become  a  Christian  ...  but  who  retains  be- 
neath the  surface  the  savage  passions  of  his  Moorish 
blood  ...  and   that   the  last   three  Acts   depict   the 
outburst   of  these  original   feelings   through   the   thin 
crust  of  Venetian  culture."  ^     This  is  Professor  Brad- 
ley's statement  of  the  view  which  has  been  held,  but 
which  he  scouts   as   impossible.     His   chief  argument 
against  it,  however,  is  that  it  is  not  like  Shakespeare, 
adding  that  "To  me  it  appears  hopelessly  un-Shake- 

"I  have  another  weapon  in  this  chamber, 
It  IS  a  sword  of  Spain,  the  ice  brook's  temper:" 

(V.  ii.  314-5.) 

In  Love's  Labour's  Lost  Shakespeare  makes  the  king  speak  "of 
many  a  knight:  from  tawny  Spain"  (I.  i.  184-5).  Here  he  is 
evidently  thinking  of  the  "tawny  Moor."  Cf.  Coleridge,  LI- 
tures  on  Shakespeare  (Bohn's  Library),  pp.  477  and  529 

Hunters  remarks  about  Venice  in  his  comments  upon  The 
^frchant  of  I  en, ce  apply  equally  well  to  this  play:  "In  perusing 
this   play   we   should    keep   constantly  in   mind   the    ideaV  which 

?JnTnf  V  ^"«'' M  '"  *i"  *™«  °^  Shakespeare  of  thi  mag!  fi- 
cence  of  Venice.  Now,  the  name  calls  up  ideas  onlv  of  glory 
departed-'Her  long  Ufe  hath  reached  its  final  day;' 'but  in  the 

«fLi       f     P°^*  ^"f ^  "^^^  ^^^""^  0"  with   admiration  by  the 
people  of  every  country,  and  by  none  with  more  devotion  than 
those  of  Eng  and."     Quoted  by  Furness  in  the  Variorum  iT 
chant  of  Venice,  p.  3. 
*  Shakespearean  Tragedy,  pp.  186-7. 


Othello 


187 


play.  th„u«i.  "t,''s  i:"trr'"''  -'  "^ 

H  new  Shakespeare;  ami  instead     .  ,f ^A  *"^  ^f^J^ 

fHCUltv   divine   of  tlu.   ,rr    ./    I  Z-       ''*■   '''^"°"    «"d    ^^^ 

-•es   of  the   cr  Hcs       Thk  ^^''""'"*'''*  .^^  ^ave  the  fan- 

>pe«re  ,s  mistical  and  modern,  Lt  hf  wrot  w^ 
very  vajrue  notion  r^f  «),„i.  i  ,   .         wrote  with  a 

The  entire  drama  is  Othello's  sfnr^r   *k       u  ^ 
outset  Wo  takes  the  YniHlf  ^'  ^°"^^  ^''°'"  ^^^ 

ira:!';.  n::BS  H^Fr  •-" 

furnished  the  mntivn  f«,.  To        *  .  .  P    ^'  tithello 

his  intrigue     iT     on  vu„d?r\  '''"">  "'"''''  "P"""'  «" 

1..S  ancient,  on  the  other.    From  th"  outlet'  Zt  ?>"''•' 
«trugg.i„g  with  a  situation  whi™  he'ru'^^^ktSor': 


•I- 


! 


188 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  P 


rince 


the  opening  of  the  play,  and  which  ^rrows  n.ore  comn]  • 
as  the  fnovement  develops.  fompi. . 

between^RnHor-"'  °/,  ^*!!'^^"  P""*'"^'"^^  "  conversation 
mora  and  T*°'  *'•'  d'sappointcd  suitor  of  Desde- 
mona,  and  lago,  concerning  incithnts  of  which  Othello 
the  chief  agent  Othello  and  Desdemona  have  eloped" 
^  seems,  leaving  Roden>  disappointed  and  distrcX 

orde  Xt'tl'^'^'  '-^^  ^"^"°*  ^"^^--^^  him    n 
But  lain    fK."'-"''T^  '"'^^^  ^'''''  ^'^•"  prevented, 
ho  i-i^  I   .j""*^^  '"/'°'*"'  *°"*''^  ^'*h  Othello,  protests 
he  d,d  not  "dream  of  such  a  matter,"  implying^that 
was  as  much  a  surprise  to  him  us  to  any  one*.    For  som 

rthe^M^'^^  "h  "*  \  T''"^'"'^  ^-^^  --«"  for  hl 
fof  ft  ^^^°7V.*'^°"«h   this  latest  episode  enables  him 
for     he   first    time    to    see    through    the    whole    afr,u> 
Othello's  attachment  to  Desdemona  now  explains  why 

to  mheUo":  '  ''f  *''.  "^"  appointment  of'licutenan^ 
to  OtheUo  was  conferred  upon  Cassio.  lago  now  sus- 
pects that  the  post  was  gi^on  to  ^assio  bfrearon  of 
Desdemona's  friendship  for  him,  and  because  he  was  a 

For  thTri"  '"  '^"  'T\'^'^  °^  ^*hello  and  Desdemona.^ 
For  this  lago  now  declares  his  hatred  of  the  pair,  and 

marr"^ %       ^"°'  '"^  '^  "°*  *°«  ^«*^'  *°  P^^-nt  l!is 

'vLfS?^^""^"^!]  referred  to  in  Fumess,  r,  5. 
himself."     (oTci      p    211T  ri   f hi  ""t,''"^  """^J*^"*'  '"^'"'""g 
worlc  to  hold  thaf  Tango's  solilo^^^^^^^^  ^'•«"^- 

srMf .  So'i;  ^fV;';" ''^^r'" /'"""-^  "  »>  ^y 


Othello 


189 


"tlHT  his  most  trus   riw      -n  "     f^^^r^^  '^"^  *»^^' 

'•"d  been   tiK.  fu]l...t  ivJc^     .''^;  '"  *'•■'  *''"'^  t^"^' 
both  alike  wn-o   o  k  d  ''  '^'*^^''""  "'"  ''^o.  «nd 

and  sterling   • .,  n^  .    "^uu'"  '"^•"  °f  -^-"^nt  ability 
Moor  and  hud  u     ,  ..rf     |  .^h-VT  ''".^''"  *«  «  "°We 

^''<-   stHk.  and  the  senate      t  ""'''''  confidence  of 

'— '  for  h  n^sf  t  e  '  ith  T'"i^^^^  '"""'  ^^^  ^e  hfd 
one.  the  "honest"  rl"  Kll  ^""'fl  ^"*  '^"  ** 
"noble"  Moor.  We  must  ^n  aetuTtI:  T^^'^"'  *^'^ 
«»  upon  this  clianm.  .11  tl    /    ?        '"'  ""»  chansi, 

ently  bo.„  at  pain,  to  show  t^thTT  '.""  "'IP"" 
toward  the  Moor  wa,  JZv  "    7"'.  !?«»  «  ««itude 

-  -  pia,  „, .-- ;--  irp,- ttf 

The  incidents  that  take  nlace  nf  ♦!,« 
play,  at  the  san.e  ti™e  as  tf  cha„    *t  TaTiftl  ""^ 
lago.  are  two.  the  eourtship  and  Irria'^^  of 'ottuo 


has  no  plays  that  nr^s^nf  *i,„  "  _^'""''*}":^'    The  great  dramatist 


k";  V    K'^*^a^''st  traged  es  of  uternti.r^      tu      "=''*='"P  «  Into 

th.  T  ?'!^'.'  ^^''^  f"'*'^^"*  the  defeat  of  tn-thf  *"'**  dVamatlst 
the  final  triumph  of  lies    as  thirtin        ^*A  ^*  "^^T  turn,  and 

must  believe  thit  Shakespeare  i5  no?  ILrri^-  *'"^"  '*"°**^-     We 


190 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


and  Desdemona,  and  the  promotion  of  Cassio  to  the 
position  of  lieutenant  under  Othello.  The  words  of 
lago  at  the  opening  of  the  play  show  that  he  regards 
the  latter  as  an  offence  to  himself,  and  therefore  makes 
It  the  ground  of  his  hostility  to  Othello.  He  complains 
that  Cassio  has  "had  the  election,"  and  that, 

"?nrt^l"/^{'°^  **i™^^  must  his  [Othello's]  Lieutenant  be, 
And  I  (bless  the  mark)  his  Moorship's  Ancient." 

(I.  i.  34-5.) 
At  a  later  time  he  comes  to  see  some  connection  between 
the  two  incidents,  and  believes  that  Cassio  got  the  ap- 
pointment because  of  an   old  friendship  with  Desde- 
mona, and  probably  because  he  carried  messages  be- 
tween Othello  and  Desdemona  during  their  courtship. 
VVhen  Othello  had  occasion  to  appoint  ?.  lieutenant, 
Ihiee  great  ones  of  the  city  In  personal  suit"  ap- 
pealed to  him  on  behalf  of  lago,  only  to  find  that  he 
had  already  chosen  Cassio.    It  appeared  to  be  a  matter 
of  personal  preference  only,  for  he  could  give  no  reason 
for  the  choice  of  Cassio.     This  capricious  choice  lago 
at  once  took  ac  a  very  great  slight  upon  him,  and 
nghtly  so.     As  one  of  "the  usual  lunacies,"  so-called, 
in  the  interpretation  of  the  play,  however.  Professor 
Bradley   says,  "It  has  been  held,   for  example,  that 
Othello  treated  lago  abominably  in  preferring  Cassio 
to  him."  1     But  the  "lunacy"  on  this  occasion  is  to 
be   charged   to   Othello   in   utterly   disregarding   and 
flouting   the    principle   of    preferment    that   holds   in 
mihtary    circles   more   rigorously   than   perhaps   any- 
where else.    This  is  the  basis  of  the  complaint  of  lago, 
and  arouses  at  once  his  suspicion  and  bitter  resent- 
ment, and  soon  turns  him  into  an  abiding  but  very 
stealthy  enemy. 
*  Shakespearean  Tragedy,  p.  208. 


l!  W 

I 

I 


Othello 


191 


^^''rr^^^l^Zt^^^^^^  «-  violation  of 

no  longer  trust  Othello^ and  S  '?°  '  -  *^"*  ^"  "^" 
them  has  virtually  ceased  1  .  f  confidence  between 
he  hope  for  the  intimate  rektilnV'"'^  T.  ^"'^^^^  <=^° 
to  continue.  This  rewarding  fT'^'  °^  ^"'"^^  d^J^ 
position  because  of  peTso^^^  °^Cassio  with  a  military 

demona  was  a  mLtTan^urth W°  ^""^' *"^  ^- 
do,  and  opened  up  all  kiSs  of  ^^JZ  *  «^"*^"*^  *<» 
not  onl3.  with  lago^ Lt  wfth  tfr-^'      *!•'  "'  *'*^"»»^^' 
forces.     Only  the  fortune  f hi  f  i^    ^'^^'Phne  of  all  his 

h™  from  dis'l.ster  Bunt  waVS  'T''  ^^"^'  «*- 
disposition  of  laifo  was  invnT!  ,1  r  .''^^"  °"^  of  the 
once  into  an  enem^y,  ^^  o„lv  to  h"  '  !*.  '^'^  ^^™  «* 
others  connected  with  the  in!  If  T''^^  ^"*  *°  «"  *h- 
Cassio,  linking  all  three  nhr^f'  *?  ^^«^^™ona  and 

Herp  fK^«    •  "^^  P^^n  of  revence 

.    ^"^'  *hen,  IS  an  outstanding  fact  th«f  f      / 
ics  have  even  observed    and  3     u    *^*^*oo  few  crit- 

Plained     At  this  pointinlre/ofmherr^^^^^r  ^^- 
a  great  change  comes  ovpr  thl-       V^V^^'^^o  and  lago 

be  too  much  iSisted  uVrthat  ub  S  tV  7-     'V^'^""^* 
been  the  warmest  and  cC  t  f  1"^^  ^^^Ij^^i^f^^  J^d 

been  m  fact  the  confidential  officer  of  Oth.ll^^^M*^ 
all  at  once,  for  some  reason  fW  l  "*hello.  Now 
stood,  lago  has  lierturn^lSl^t^f^*  ^^«  ""der- 
old  friend,  Othello  and  as  If  f  ,  ^'J*''  ^"""3^  °f  bis 

this  for  the  inter^r^UtfoVV^^^^^^^^ 
has  chosen  this  point  in  their  relations^!      f '""*"* 
scene.    But  in  soite  of  «ll  *h  /nations  toi     :e  opening 

the  importances^ Lake^^^^^^^^^^^        ^'"  ""^''^'^  ^^^^ 
exposition  of  his  dramatTarr  litT"  H^  '^'l  ^""^  '^' 


n 


192 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prvnce 


and  from  this  to  trace  the  further  development  of  the 
play. 

Ever  since  Coleridge  it  has  been  the  common  thing, 
though  by  no  means  universal,  to  attribute  the  whole 
trouble  to  the  sudden  and  unmotived  malignity  of  lago, 
or  to  forget  the  fact  that  it  has  been  sudden  and  unlike 
anything  heard  of  before  on  the  part  of  lago,  and  to 
assume   only   the  malignity.     Later   critics,   however, 
have  not  been  able  to  overlook  the  emergence  of  the 
malignity  at  this  time,  and  have  attempted  to  explain 
it  from  their  own  imaginations  rather  than  from  the 
words  of  the  play.     Professor  Bradley  may  be  taken 
as  voicing  the  best  that  can  be  said  by  those  who  would 
lay  all  the  blame  of  the  tragedy  upon  lago,  but  who 
feel  they  must  account  in  some  manner  for  this  sudden 
malignity.     Not  content  with  charging  lago  with  the 
evil   the   play   undoubtedly   lays    upon   his   shoulders, 
Professor  Bradley  suggests  that  lago  has  always  been 
in  reality  a  villain,  and  has  worn  his  "honesty"  only 
as  a  mask,  which  now  he  throws  off,  revealing  suddenly 
the  real  villain  that  he  is,  his  true  nature.     He  has 
always  been,  says  Professor  Bradley,  "a  thoroughly 
bad,  cold  man,  who  is  at  last  tempted  to  let  loose  the 
forces  within  him."  ^     But  this  is  sufficiently  answered 
for  the  present  if  we  have  succeeded  in  discovering  a 
change  of  attitude  on  the  part  of  Othello,  due  to  his 
infatuation  with  Desdemona,  and  to  the  fact  that  he 
found  Cassio  very  serviceable  in  his  love-making.     A 
complete  criticism  of  the  assigned  motive  of  lago,  and 
an  attempt  at  the  elaboration  of  his  real  state  of  mind 
must  be  left  until  after  we  have  followed  the  conflict 
through  the  initial  stages,  when  we  shall  be  better  able 
to  judge  the  real  merits  of  the  case. 
^Shakespearean  Tragedy,  p.  218. 


Othello 


193 


i«Xtltr t  "^^^^^  [:r  J--,  for  decHn- 

^f  lago,  and  as  the  nfml         ij^'  '^^^  °^  *^^  ^"trigue 
of  Othello     There  isT    ''""^'^  '"*'°^**^  ^*  "  ^^^  pky 

the  Moor  in  his  «ew^hoL  „  Vent  T  o  ''.T'^  °' 
find  the  explanation  of  the  traTdv  in  tL  K  '"^^^  *° 
«gned  by  the  dramatist  we  sf^T/  ^  .  "°'  ^'  ^^- 
now  at  last,  when  a  cris  s  .n^  ""f-  *°  '^^  *^*t 

Moorish  general  tran?.  ?^'!  "P°"  ^™'  *^e  great 
African  of sranish  h„Z  •".''^.J'°"\  ^^'  ^^^^'  of  his 
life  of  Venice    Snlu-        r*°  *^'  ^"^*"^^d  and  refined 

an  the  ^eTre's-ptstlttT^h^  'L^'  '^^^^^^ 
his  new  life.  It  mav  hp  ihll  tK  J  ^  •  Position  and 
man  of  peace  and^had  littt  *^^  ^^.^^^ft'  who  was  a 
and  other  great  warrio-  admiration  for  the  C«sars 
i      •■  «*'^«.L   warriors,   is  here   fnL-tn/«  w 

tunity  to  show  how  little  of  thl  M  I  ^  ''  "PP"'" 
in  great  military  abilitv  Bnf  fl,  ?  '^r'*""^  ^^^"« 
Othello  a  Moor  and  so  ;i.  •  *  Z^'^*  *^**  ^^  ™«kes 
play,  must  Z'l^tZtZ'foT  ''"  ^'^^""^^-^  *^^ 

HisXtS^^at  a^n^:d'itn?ir  "°^^^  ^" 

people  and  the  senafp    a  ^"".confidence  of  the 

ed«^  to  be  .tir;„?dt:Tvere"*"BVl^^^ 
l^.Vrt  ZZnTV"',   '"^^^   «-  *"-  he' 

fro„  foiiowi/,  rriXdtd  ■;:,  'm  ^■"• 

the  army,  and  docs  a  ^reat  inii.^H™  ♦  r '^  '".■"™'  '" 
reason  that  he  dare  fi™  i"-''"'""^  *<•  'ago-  With  no 
perienced  man  in';"  fS,e  t/PP°l"?^  ^/holly  ine,- 

<her  who  had  fought  unde'/h^  cw^t; ''rRhod"'- 
»t  Cyprus,  and  on  other  irround,  rtlZ  .j  "™,''«»' 
then."     d.  i  3i.«  ^     Tt-     T  .,    '-""sten'd  and  hea- 

"■.Ht.yUd\!^„,:i;;:rryr™---: 


m 


194 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


for  he  believed  he  was  entitled  to  promotion.  It  also 
shook  his  confidence  in  Othello,  and  roused  in  him  all 
his  force  of  resentment  and  turned  him  into  a  bitter 
enemy  of  Othello. 

Thus  far  in  Shakespeare's  play  there  is  not  so  much 
as  a  hint  of  the  motive  assigned  to  lago  in  Cinthio's 
novel,  the  presumed  source  of  the  play.    The  dramatist 
has  almost  completely  changed  the  point  of  view  of  the 
whole  story,  by  inventing  an  entirely  new,  and  perhaps 
loftier  if  not  better,  motive  for  his  lago.    On  the  other 
hand,  he  transformed  the  one  he  found  in  the  story, 
and  invented  the  character  of  Roderigo  to  bear  that 
vulgar  part.     Then  he  invents   a  second  motive   for 
lago,  and  makes  him  hate  Othello  also  for  his  supposed 
relations  with  Emilia.     By  way  of  revenge  for  this 
©♦••cnce,  lago's  first  impulse  is  to  try  to  corrupt  Des- 
c^n  ma,  and  thus  get  even  with  Othello.    But  how  little 
this  was  his  intention  is  seen  by  the  fact  that  he  never 
seems  to  have  seriously  considered  it.    In  place  of  this, 
however,  he  has  an  alternative  that  becomes  his  ruling 
motive,  to  put  Othello  into  a  jealousy  of  Cassio.    This 
he  thinks  will  serve  to  revenge  himself  on  Othello  for 
both  offences  at  one  blow: 

**mM,^T"°**''"^  *^""'  *"'  '^'>*'^  content  my  soul 
Till  I  ana  even'd  with  him,  wife,  for  wife. 
Or  failing  so,  yet  that  I  put  the  Moor 
At  least  into  a  jealousy  so  strong 
That  judgment  c     >ot  cure." 

(II.  i.  331-S.) 

The  two  oflPences  with  which  lago  charges  Othello  are 
both  matters  of  honor,  and  mark  phases  of  Othello's 
mability  to  sustain  the  new  and  exalted  life  of  his 
adopted  country.  He  was  quite  equal  to  the  task  of 
maintaining  his  military,  or  semi-barbaric,  relations 


Othello  -.Qj, 

VenLt  'B„'t',;"ir:  '»  "-^  '"Khest  command  ir 
above  reproach    and  i„  h"    K™""'  ''""■"  <>«  i,  „it 

offences  as  that  with  P™,l  ^P  ^^^  '*''»"'<'  »'  »"ch 
maintain  an  u'dirturb!^!  fi'  °,""^"''  ''  ""'W'  to 

refined  and  debate  VWtknTv.'"''''''''"''''?  """'  hU 
left  very  doubtfulby  the  plavH-.K"",'  "'  «"'"  » 
elusion  is  unwarranted     if  •^'  «  ^  «"«f»«  this  con- 

for  the  elophtvtr   ^l^'f^'^^^P  institute  a  search 

'ng  Roderigo,  and  not  W   f  K    ,1^         ''  P^^^  ''^^  "^^^ 
Desdemona      la^o  ^.  thiT'         ^j^*PP«>nted  suitor  of 

passion,  and  Rorigot.rTtrb  '°'  *^"^"  '^'^^ 
the  same  time  supp!L  tl  need^r''  "'°*^^'''  ^"'^  *^ 
to  carry  out  the  intr^^L.fr'^.'"°"^^'  *"d  helps 
joint  appeal    o  Brlba^tTo  wil   L^^^^^  Their 

accepted'lover  oJ^'esdXna       ""  '""  '°  '""'"^  "« 

a  err:/* j;er"ho:tint°v'  ''v"^'"™  ^  -'« -p-- 
fer  hi;  -  £~  --"^rt^t!:': 
.op%.^-:rite":„T?;-rT«:r™rth'^^ 


196 


II 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


til^f  ^  "\*u''  ^"'^  P"^^*>*°"  *^"*We8  him  the 
Of  K  n  J^?  ?"^  *""  purpose,  which  is  not  to  destroy 
Othello,  but  only  to  disturb  his  relations  with  Desde- 
mona,  and  to  put  him  into  an  agony  of  jealousy.  lago 
does  not  fully  understand  the  fierce  nature  of  OtheUo. 
and  does  not  appear  at  first  to  foresee  the  terrible  ex- 
tremes to  which  his  barbaric  and  ungovernable  passion 
jrill  drive  hnn.  He  realizes  that  he  must  at  no  time  be 
found  in  a  position  "Against  the  Moor"  (I.  i.  16g),  and 
therefore  separates  himself  from  Roderigo,  and  hastens 
to  join  himself  to  Othello,  in  order  to  appear  on  his 
side  m  the  ensuing  disturbance. 


rv 


It  IS  at  this   point   that   the  second  of  the  great 
problems   of   the  play  emerges.      The   proper  under- 
standing of  the  relations  of  Othello  and  Desdemona  is 
equally  ^mportant  with  the  question  of  the  relations  of 
lago  and  Othello.    The  exposition  of  these  two  elements 
of  the  play  is  set  forth  by  the  dramatist  with  his  usual 
clearness,  and  at  considerable  length,  but  has  neverthe- 
less escaped  t       notice  of  the  critics,  or  has  been  dis- 
counted as  a  factor  in  the  interpretation. ^     But  it  is 
high  time  to  learn  that  whatever  Shakespeare  put  de- 
liberately into  his  dramas  is  to  be  considered  in  the 
interpretation. 

The  meeting  of  the  two  search  parties,  each  seeking 
Othe lo  for  a  different  reason,  brings  the  relations  of 
Othello  and  Desdemona  into  prominence.  The  partv 
of  Cassio,  with  the  Senate's  hasty  summons  to  Othello, 
serves  to  give  dramatic  importance  to  Othello's  great 
ability  as  a  commander,  and  to  emphasize  his  military 
^Cf.  Bradley,  Shaktapearean  Tragedy. 


Othello 


197 


value  to   Venice       Rr„k     x- 

to  unsuspected.     When  thoTw     '     :"'""''"'*"- '""'■cr- 

Jlic  sudden  daneor  from  th„  T     i       . 
made  great  dispatch  nocoslrv        Z^?.  "'Cyprus  has 
dered  Othello  before  hm""'        ."'"  °'''"=  ^as  or- 
Iwntio's  appeal  to  (he  S.r  ""  ""^  '■"*»"'•"    Bra- 
time,  Othellf appL  tfte'th  """""^t^  "'  "-^  »"><• 
Wc  capacity  o?the  Genet?  of  thrff'"™  '"  '^'  '^''"- 
«  great  militarv  exploit  "n^.         'J"'"  entrusted  with 
tie's  daughter       ^      '    "^  "'  ""  "'"P"  "iti"  Braban- 

BrSntL-rifr/^t'adti;"'  '^ ^^  '"^  «■>•'<" 
Ix^come  his  accuser  before  tlTi     \'""   "°«I«»tedlT 

ored  a,  a  friend  and  as  a^^,^"f>  ^<'™"'.v  hon^ 
"..tted  to  Brabantfo's  hoSe  ottlr*  S"'  ^''^^^  ^^- 
he  IS  now  considered  an  en™v     ^       discovers   that 

husband  of  BrabanttrdlSer''"  FoTr '^^  "  "« 
possibly,  Othello  becomes  a^r.  .  .u  /''"  *"'  *'"^'> 
not  accepted  on  terms  „f  full  a„d  '"/'"''  *'"'*  ^e  is 
particulars  with  the  VeneuiL  if "'  ^r"'^  '"  »" 
that  Othello  had  feared  th^  /  "  ''''''^'  however, 
in  marriage  without  askin.h      At"  ^°°^  »esdemona 

fied  that  af a  black  Lfhe^coJld  „"„*!:;  ™t"*'^  '»«'- 
consent.  "^""'d  not  obtam  Brabantio's 

bauTo'^tleSnr,':  W  "^'f  ^"-^  Senate,  Bra- 
difference  „i  race  Ind  co  oj  He  t'h^l  *?/"  ""'■  "« 
natural  for  Desdemonrto  ac^pttm  lr"'f'^  ""- 
''"o-ngl,.     He  cannot  eopct  vTho^Tisffc-f 


1  ' 


198 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


fair  maid  of  Venice,  could  consent  to  marry  a  man  of 
Othello  8  color  and  nationality,  unless  in  some  way  out 
of  her  senses.  So  preposterous  docs  it  appear  to  him 
that  he  must  suppose  Othello  has  charmed  her  with 
drugs  and  magic.    He  cries  out  in  his  desperation : 

"She  is  abus'd,  stolen   from  me,  and  corrupted 
By  spells,  and  medicines,  bought  of  mountebanks; 
ror  nature,  so  preposterously  to  err, 
(Being  not  deficient,  blind,  or  lame  of  sense) 
Sans  witch-craft  could  not." 

(I.  iii.  75-9.) 

He  reiterates  his  belief  that  it  is  "against  all  rules  of 
nature,"  and  speaks  of  Othello's  supposed  magic  as 
practices  of  cunning  hell."  Brabantio,  at  least,  thinks 
the  marriage  of  Moor  and  Venetian,  of  black  and  white, 
to  be  utterly  preposterous  and  unnatural,  and  doubt- 
less the  other  Senators  shared  this  conviction.  It  seems 
likely  that  this  was  also  the  opinion  of  the  dramatist, 
for  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  it  was  always  so 
regarded  on  the  Elizabethan  stage.  Only  the  develop- 
ment of  the  drama  will  show  how  far  Shakespeare  sym- 
pathizes with  this  opinion. 

Two  deeds  upon  the  part  of  Othello  have  now  brought 
him  in'o  active  collision  with  other  persons,  and  the  two 
are  i  elated  to  each  other.  Because  of  his  obligations 
to  Cassio  in  the  matter  of  his  love-making  with  Des- 
dcmona  he  has  appointed  him  to  an  important  position 
over  lago,  thus  making  an  enemy  of  his  faithful  officer. 
He  has  also  stolen  away  Desdemona  from  her  father, 
and  secretly  married  her,  making  an  enemy  of  Braban- 
tio, who  had  been  one  of  his  greatest  admirers  among 
the  Senate.  In  both  cases  there  is  evidence  of  his  cal- 
lousness and  dullness  of  mind.  Up  to  this  point  Othello 
had  been  able  to  carry  successfully  his  exalted  respon- 


Othttto 


199 


well  the  duties  of  m,i;t„    r^  T^'     ™  ™"'<'  perform 

evident  that  L  ;  "^'^'"f.  H  J  ^"!."T. '?  '^«'"»  *»  >» 
exacting  Jt,  J  Z  j    "^  ""  ""s''"  ""d  "■ore 

civiliz^^tAe.    wC  o'th"^!    ^""^1  "'  '">«•  '»  « 
for  the  street,  and  h„™!      f         '/    ]'"  '""''<'  "»'''»" 

«oe,  to  pie:e:T„?Xrery„t;'',f  ^  '^"""'^ 
have  had  speedily  gives  Dkce  d/  ""  '"'  '""^ 

An  unsusprcted'wfatn.sror  deflciicT Th^^^r- 
acter  is  thus  laiV?  Kor«  aenciency,  m  his  char- 

wiU  latertstn  to  JumP™  "'""''  ""^  "*«>''  '""S^^y 

pI.?!mpHes1s"7uVl„'\"''''  'TI"""  *°  ■""-•  'he 
from  the  /ac  that  he  i  '  «"'  °''"r'"'  ""<'  <=""'" 
Othello  is  but  i  I  ada„,.H  f  \T:  V^  half-civilized 
lured  Veni^    S„™    '^ -.^    "  l'^'  '"  '"'^'"^  '"^  cul- 

nothin^XieverTf  Th  ■i;"pX*:rttr*  *''"* 

!.e  happens  itT  bL'    mt'"«H^*,lrthe*''"'^'' 
«  an  entirely  indifferent  matter  ifthe  ril;   a7d  "^' 
be  all  but  ignored  in  the  interpreLtiin      oi  ^^ 
sumption,  however    m«  ™.  ■•>:•  preiation.     On  this  as- 

??^rvi^^:^H5S?^*V^?' 

h":  e-uTSe' th^t'lhe^d  "'I'T"^^  »"**^  '"'^ 
with  clear  dol^ril^'of  L1  r;^^^  if'^e"'''^ 

""■"^'t/o  '  '■^r*  "-^  P-E  0?0thelir.t  fea  ? 
0/.  Note  D.,  pp.  298-300,  infra.  *^^ 


200 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


m 


dav  th.  /  *T''  °^  ^"^*"^*^-     '"  Shakespeare'^ 

day  the  discovery  of  new  lands  and  new  peoples  must 

ceptioroTtt-'^"  *'°"^'*'V^  ^"^°P--  SithThe'on- 
o&ter  of  .•'•r°7rV'P''''°"*y  '"  ^"  *he  arts  and 
au?te  !«.  •''  ''"^  ^'^'-  ^"^  ^^''^  P^*y  »"'»'^^«  Othello 
?ril  fK  "'^r -1°"'  ^'  ^"^  °"^  ^^»«  °^  his  diversity  of 
race  though  it  is  to  other  causes  that  he  assigns^h^s 
want  of  grace  and  culture. 

When  charged  before  the  Senate  with  the  abduction 
of  Desdemona  Othello's  defence  consists  of  a  frank  and 
free  admission  hat  he  had  taken  Brabantio's  daughter 
and  an  apologetic  account  of  his  "whole  course  offove" 
He  pleads  that  he  is  "little  blest  with  the  soft  phra;e 
of  peace,"  for  he  has  spent  all  his  life  in  "feats  of 
broils,  and  battle."     (I.  iii.  104  ff.)     i„  tie  cour  e  of 

qlTtf  kt"b"""'  •""^^™^^^  tale'' tclTei:! 
2.n«f      r  *  *^^*^haric  sincerity  and  splendor  that  al- 

'The  Wtf  *^-'  '^""^'^^  "^  '^'  ^'^-''-    The  story  of 
d^Tntththety:r^*°"  ^'  ''  ''''  ^"  -*^  ^- 

(I.  Iii.  190-1.) 
He  further  says  he  is  ready  to  abide  by  the  decision  of 

for  herself  He  considers  the  marriage  to  be  a  matter 
for  themselves  alone  and  implies  that  the  lady  has  a 
sent  '^  husband  without  her  father's  con- 

tn'!^"'"  ^^7  numerous  Shakespearean  plays  which  seem 
to  bear  out  the  idea  that  the  dramatist  thought  it  to 


I* 
If 


OtheUo 


201 


consideration.  ShaCpTa7: ZoJ^uZ"'''''  ^  ^^^" 
choice  when  it  means  a  l«r.n.  ^  r  .T  '^PP'o^'^*  «uch 
disobeyed  a  tvmnn?  T  f  T  ''"'^  ^""^*''  '>^^-  Juliet 
lar^r'life  L^nX^^^^^^  father   to  find   a 

the  same  spirit  ImoL'ietsei  th^  "'*^  "T^ °-  ^" 
ous  Clotenrto  join  h^ndr  ^  hcl^ts'tlJrthc'  •"^"■ 
Posthumus.    The  lovely  Jewess    T»7-  ^"^  virtuous 

the  miserly  Shylock  to^  mr^rtt  cS/tr  '^T^  '^°™ 
and  at  the  same  time  accenf.2  li  ^V."f*»«n»  Lorenzo, 
hand.  In  all  thelTLTFu  *^?  ''^'«'°»  °^  her  hus- 
life  with  the  menTf  thefr  o^:  7''  "^  ^"""^  ^^-''-  ^'"^ 
«ives  his  verSlct  tn  makin;  tlV  T'  'f  *^^  '^'*"^'^*'«* 
cessful,  and  in  hrlnfZTout  of  h.  °'''  ^'^^^^  '^"^  «"^- 
good  to  all.  ^^    "*  °^  '^^'^  marriage  a  larger 

diSLrJo^m^t^r^  :mh;r  "Tn^^^^^^^^  ™-^ 

«  not  so  much  the  w^lfnl  ,J-  °  ^"*^  Dcsdemona.    It 

is  the  faulTof  Didri  r'^r*  *"  '"^  ^^*^^^  *h-t 
great  deal  of  thWbunhefae"^^^^^^  "'V-  ^'^'^e  « 

she  showed  a  wiful  disregard  of  V"  "^"^i'?*^  ^*^^"« 
^Cf.  Bodenstedt.  who  says -Soln  .  ""^  '^'^^^^^  ^"- 

sacred.  Desdemona  wiU  h^LwJZ^  ?  ^""^^7  ties  arc  held 
every  healthv  mind.  WlLut  L^,"?  .^'''^Yl?  "«='  father  by 
which  Othello  shares  .the  S-  *^i  '"  "/"^  *^»  wrong,  ij 
character,  and  degenerates  Into  t^L  /Tf  ***  »«<^'«<Mv  tS«ric 
finished  viUain  as^Iag^srould  destroy  th^i^"":  ^°'  *•>«'  «»^  « 
excellent  persons  as  Othello  and  n«J  *  happiness  of  two  such 
«me.  cons^dously  or  unconscL^usl^^^^^^^^  «*  the  same 

e'v^hi^nTby-Ata^-lf  MS'^^^^^^^^ 

trans,  in  Furnesl's  Variorlm  ol?to,  p!  ^?*"^  "^^^'^«f-"     Eng. 


I 


n 


HamUt,  an  Ideal  Prince 

ria'^*  of  olhT  "Tn'^  >'  'nainUincd  that  the  mar- 
rage  of  Othello  and  Desdemona  wa»  a  complete  «pir- 

that  at  the  time  «et,ned  incompHtible  and  in  the  end 
proved  entirely  rreeoneiluble.  ll  is  true,  of  eo"  rse  that 
«H  .n  the  CHse  of  Julu.t  the  passion  of  love  transformed 

tlTf  ^  «^'lf-relian    woman.     There  need  be  no  at- 
tempt to  deny  the  reality  of  the  love  of  these  two,  and 
t.  effect  upon  their  development,  but  it  was  not  strong 
enough  or  natural  enough  to  overcome  all  its  enemies, 
as  a  true  and  natural  love  like  that  of  Romeo  and  Juliet 
fU;.  1  •      ^."f/   «""!*   conditions    it   is   possible   that 
their  love  might  have  outlived  their  lives  and  overcome 
Its  handicaps,  yet  ,ti«  to  miss  the  art  of  this  drama 
not  to  see  that  the  dramatist  is  here  showing  its  un- 
naturalness  by  placing  it  in  the  conditions  that  test 
It  to  the  uttermost  and  that  reveal  its  weakness  and 
onng  it  to  defeat. 

When   Desdemona   is  brought  into  court   to   speak 
for  herself  ,„  the  matter  of  the  marriage,  she  declares 
that  she  freely  and  lovingly  takes  Othello  for  her  hus- 
band, and  intimates  that  she  is  willing  to  take  all  the 
consequences  of  that  act.     She  affirms  her  love  for  the 
Moor,  and  her  desire  to  live  with  him,  and  requests  to 
be  permitted  to  accompany  him  to  Cyprus.     She  says 
she   understands   fully  what   she   is  doing,   recognizes 
Othello  as  a  Moor,  but  that  she  accepts  him  as  he  is, 
for,  as  her  words  imply,  she  finds  compensation  for  his 
color  in  the  quality  of  his  mind,  in  his  honors,  and  in 
nis  courage: 

"My  heart's  subdu'd 
Even  to  the  very  quaUty  of  my  lord; 
I  saw  Othello's  visage  In  his  mind, 


OtheUo 

(I.  111.  «78-Ma.)    * 


leos 


b^t^r  S:;ir;tr;^^^^  to  abide 

able,  but  leave-  thein  w^h  Z^    a7^''^  ''''''  '"^^'*- 
mark:  '**'  ^^'^  "*'«^d'«»  «nd  cruel  re- 


(I.  iii.  ssaU.) 


over  the  ,„„ow,  of  Tor  fattrTn  th  f       f  "J"«  "■"'^'' 
marriage.  '"  ""'  "">"'  unfortunate 


«al  of  the  love;  of  HhfkT      ""'°"/  *^^  "^"^^  '     •''t- 
SDeaks  nf  nlT  f  hakespeare.     Professor  .       ..   ., 

f.nc«ul  eritfcllLat''n,°at  r„t"str^^  "'  **"" 
yet  think,  it  i,  interpreTinrthe  "id      If  r ''T?'  '"^ 

gestions  for  tlie  re-cLtin^  of  #„»L,  •        }^"  '"«• 
Dress  hptfo.-  *!..       "^".'""g  "'  Hamlet  m  order  to  ex- 

ZLZ       "•l"''""'"*  have  not  helped  but  hinder^ 
iihak«$pear»an  Tragedy,  pp.  202-3. 


204 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


lean,  ft  '"^,  f  ShHke8TH.ar/s  drama,  we  should 

So2  *f\i'"°^..°^  t^"^"«  ^^^  dramatist  have  his  way. 
Some  of  the  critics  before  Professor  Bradley  have  more 
truly  seen  the  character  of  the  love  of  Othello  and 
Desdemona  Professor  Dowden  has  observed  that  «Jn 
the  love  of  each  there  was  a  romantic  element-  and 
romance  IS  not  the  highest  form  of  the  ser^c"  which 
.magma  ion  renders  to  love.     For  romanc7X±e 

i:^zti%'  °' ""  *'^'"'  ^' ''  ^'''>  *^-"«^  -^-^- 

att^ralt  n^^^  "°*'''^  ^^""^  *^'  '1"'*"*'^«  ^"  Othello  that 

dinger  "thafTr^"-    ?"  ^'^""^  '^«-'-*  «*-"«' 
danger,    that  is,  physical  rather  than  mental  or  moral 

qualities,  and  that  "no  feats  of  mind,  or  skill,  or  cj*- 

ning  are  recorded."  ^    Her  love,  inde'ed,  seems'  to  Ta 

kind  of  romantic  fascination,  a  love  of  the  sensuous 

imagination,  what  Professor  Herford  properly  calls  "a 

perilous  ecstasy  of  the  idealizing  brain  without  secure 

root  in  the  heart."  3    The  last  men'Joned  writer  shows 

dear  «sight  when  he  contrasts  the  love  of  Othello  and 

pesdemona  with  that  of  Romeo  and  Juliet,  which  "o 

"completely  possesses  and  occupies  their  simple  soul" 

that  they  present  no  point  of  vantage  for  distinteerat- 

ing  forces.'-     Apparently  it  need!  to  be    aid  over 

but  "hat  alMr'f  "k?"  ^*"^^"  «°™-  -<^  J"°^^t 
but  that  all  their  trouble  was  with  a  world  arrayed 

oTthe  othe;";-     ?"*'  "^'TT  ^*^^"°  -^  Desdemona, 
Xnlf  ;??'  *  "'°«V^^«t'e««ng  conflict  arose  that 

and  endT^  f  ^  overshadowed  the  original  conflict 
and  ended   only   m    the   greatest   catastrophe   of  the 
\l\<^»V'>r»-ni»  Miv     and  Art.  p.  232,  13th  edition    1906 

!  Ewsley  Shakespeare,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  290. 
'Iota.,  p,  290, 


••^, 


Othello 


205 


drama.    Instead  nt  ka 

ine  marriaire  of  Ofh^li^      j  y^'  ,    ^  *  contrast, 
of  different  r^cet  andtoCs  ^T"^  ""  ^  ""^- 
world   has  never  approved      Tht  •  '""''^  °^  *^*^ 

and  white  seems  alwavs  to  h  J  1'"*'"'"^"  °^   W"<=k 
Elizabethan,  as  to  a  modern       !,>"'"  '''^''^'^^  *«  ^n 
before  Shakespeare  I  "dLw/"''""^  dramatists 
the  case.     Shfkespea^e  „'   d-.r?""^?^  l^^'  *°  ^ 
for  in  the  two  plays  where  nn]     IT"^  *^'^  ^•^^^'"g' 
are  possible  he  folLws  the  !,  "°,t"^i'.°"  ^^^  ""^tter 
he  had  a  part  in  wrilw  the  ^^  ^     J*'""'     ^'^"°»^"« 
the  Moor  of  Titus  JZ^'^ltL'"  'T  ""^^  ^'^^-' 
a  veritable  brute  and  as  cr^"?'       L°"^/  ''P"^«^^«  hut 

sliip  there  can  be  no  doubt  In^'  ^^u*  .''^°'*^  *"thor- 
O^A.tto.hehadprevTous?vnor?r"  ""^''t''  '^^"^'  ^^an 
for  the  hand  o?  Portil  7^^^^^^^^^^  -  ^  -itor 

cessful.      When  the  Prince  n?i^  ^'™  *'  "n«"c- 

golden  casket,  only  to  fiidV     ^"""T   "^°««««   the 
him,  Portia  remarks :  '*'"°"  ^^'**^"  ^^aiting 

TT.         ,       .  ("•  ▼«.  80-1.) 

o  Portia  a  sufficient  cl^.tfor  OfVu^"".'^  ''  •">* 
mg  that  some  compensaUon  „.?  »  t,  ^'''"°'  '"O'  f«l- 
fore  the  senate  hKo;^!-  '^an"^'  .'"™<''  "*- 
then,  to  infer  that  with"^^  s  „„?r«d3r"K\!"'''"« 


206 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


plea  and  says  she  has  found  the  necessary  compensa- 
tion m  his  "mmd"  and  in  his  "valiant  parts."  But  this 
does  not  appear  to  any  of  the  other  persons  of  the 
drama  or  to  the  dramatist  as  sufficient.  Marriage 
makes  a  demand  for  absolute  equality  between  the  par- 
ties and  is  likely  to  prove  fatal  in  those  cases  where 
apologies  and  excuses  are  necessary. 

It  has  not  generally  been  observed  that  Shakespeare 
makes  more  of  this  racial  difference  than  did  Cinthio, 
the  Italian  original.    To  Cinthio  it  is  almost  entirely  a 
matter  of  a  difference  of  color,  which  in  itself  is  ex- 
ternal though  not  unimportanr      But  to  Shakespeare, 
who  always  reads  deeper  than  others,  it  is  on  the  sur- 
face a  matter  of  color,  but  at  bottom  a  matter  of  racial 
divergence  that  amounts  to  an  incompatibility  of  char- 
acter.    It  is  this  difference  of  character  that  Shake- 
speare elevates  into  a  matter  of  the  greatest  dramatic 
importance,  as  it  appears  to  all  students  who  take  their 
notions   of  the  play  from  Shakespeare's  play  itself 
Lamb,  freely  admitting  his  "Imperfect  Sympathies," 
remarks  that  in  reading  the  play  we  like  to  see  Desde- 
mona  forget  Othello's  color  and  love  him  for  his  mind's 
sake,— see  his  visage  in  his  mind;  but  in  teeing  it  on 
the  stage  we  "find  something  extremely  revolting  in  the 
courtship  and  wedded  caresses  of  Othello  and  Desde- 
mona."i      Professor  Wilson's   remark   of  more   than 
half  a  century  ago  in  Blackwood's  (1850)  is  still  to  the 
point :    "That  the  innate  repugnance  of  the  white  Chris- 
tian to  the  Black  Moorish  blood,  is  the  ultimate  tragic 
substratum,— the  *must'  of  all  that  follows."  «     And 
most  people  feel  the  same  unless  obsessed  with  some  a 

'Quoted,  Furness,  392. 


'm-:m^. 


.*-'! 


Othello 


207 


acter  with  his  race  and  color      iVL  n  f  .  '  ''^^'" 

our  purpose  to  consider  fhe  truth  of  tVi7"*'"l^°' 
but   enough   to   notice   that    sul  conception, 

it,  thouffh  there  wnin.fr     ^^""^^^P^^^^  so   regarded 

unnatural  po  iHo„     Th""  ■"""  ""  '"«™'"'^»  "l  his 

iVn^|jrrr..^fifHS 

fore  the  council  he  admits  the  lack  of  the  softer  arts 

but  he  charges  this  to  his  military  life   and  n„t  f.  l,-' 

racial  extraction.     He  is    in  f«.f  .i,-         ,*"  ^'^ 

noble  and  excellent  as  a^Lorf  but  S'^n^he  fi    " 

graces  and  qualities  of  a  Venet  an     In  sWt   Otholf "  •' 

simply  of  a  lowpr  fv«o      ck  i  snort,  Uthello  is 

f  y  "I  a  lower  type.     Shakespeare  evidently  is  of 

the  same  mind  as  Tennyson:     "Better  fifty  velars  of 

Europe  than  a  cycle  of  Cathay."  ^  ^      '  °^ 

Schlegel  has  remarkfdXt  ^itr^Th^s  eaT^oTce 
Cf.  Herford,  Eversley  Shakespeare,  VIII.  289. 


208 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


li' 


m^ntJT-^"  ^"^7  *^  '"°^*^^  ™""-"  '    Othello  lacks  the 
mental  poise  and  cl^ar  vision  of  a  high  nature      He 

possesses  sturdy  physical  qualities,  but^  lacks  th^  finer 
T/ki  ^Sr"'-  ^h^*  Schlegel  calls  the  "tyranny  of 
the  blood'  asserts  itself  at  every  turn.  WhenTa^o 
works  on  h,s  jealous  imagination  hLompletercolIapsfs 
and  falls  ma  swoon.  When  he  sees  Cassio  ta^in^^^^^^ 
lago  about  Desdemona  as  he  thinks,  he  wants  t!  Tear 
him  in  purees  at  once.  When  troubled  with  the  convic- 
tion of  Desdemona's  unfaithfulness,  he  gets  theTtter 

Zt?\  ^'"'^  ^^'""^  ^^^^"«'  ^"^  ^hen  Desdemona  ex- 
presses her  pkasure  at  his  recall,  in  the  very  presence 
of  Lodovico  he  brutally  strikes  his  wife.     Then  after 

nofnfl   T  t   'i'^^"  «f°  °"  ^«  "«"«1'  and  coolly  ap- 

warrior  fs\"ut  K-lt"?^  ^^'  «*^°"^  ^^^  "^^J^^^ 
warrior  is  but  a  child  m  the  control  of  his  passion   and 

the  noble  Hamlet,  who  can  refrain  from  kilC  he 
king  at  prayer,  and  whose  conscience  trouble  Wm  for 
unwillingly  giving  offence  to  Laertes. 

worLnl'^rf'*  *•'/  ^"  *H'  ^^"™^  Shakespeare  is 
working  on  a  special  case  that  comes  within  a  vprv 

large  general   principle.      The   province   of  dramatic 
n  1:  aXT  1-f !?  *.'^*  °'  generalization,  and  mu: 
the  W./     •     •^*''^  *°  ^  particular  instance.     But 
the  larger  principle  upon  which  the  dramatist  is  work- 

hif  ^ont^V"^  T''::^  incompatibility,  and  to  maklott 
his  contention  he  chooses  a  case  that  not  only  exhibits 
to    he  inner  sense  of  those  who  observe  but  also  exh  b  t 
to  the  outer  sense  of  thos.  who  only  see.     Shakesp^^^^^^^^^ 
has  m  this  play  first  taken  t.o  persons  joined  in  a  mar- 


Othello 


S09 


1.     1.L         "'^"ngruiTics,  but  m  order  to  mato  if  o^^ 
to  the  eve  as  wpII  nc  f«  +i         •    ,     ,  ^^  "  appear 

versity  o'i  race":"d  cX    Vhl"  d.^"  '-'"I '"  "  "'- 

cause  of  the  conflict  between  the  two  Lh  fV  »  ""-^ 
vates  into  traKedv  the  1M„  ;„  7' f  li"""' .»««'■''■ 
two  kindred  spS  wo  dd  pts  off  2'h  nJ"'  "^T" 

That  the  difference  of  color  is  a  rpnl  ««^  f'fj'ness. 
an  imaginary  source  of  troubk  in    he  case  of  oXt 
may  be  further  seen  in  the  fact  thai  in  ft. 

:rirottS  ^"^"v4 '''"''' ^^^^^^^  t^^-s 

norri  *^%^^^"»«-  As  the  play  develops  there  is 
not  a  person  of  any  prominence  in  the  play  with  whom 
he  does  no  come  into  conflict.  His  color/or  he  Ihar 
acter  due  to  his  color,  before  the  play  closes  ^uUhL 
in  opposition  to  all  the  leading  p'^.rsL  Tf  the  plaV 
Othello  IS  indeed  a  Moor,  a  noble  but  a  savage  nature* 
a  man  out  of  touch  with  his  surroundings,  whfis  vainlv 
trying  to  hve  his  life  among  another  p^^^le  of  a  dfffer^ 
tnt  color  and  higher  ideals.^ 


SIO 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


i\ 


11 

Iff 


The  difference  of  race,  and  hence  of  spiritual  char- 
acter, IS  that  which  disturbs  the  marria^  of  Othello 
and  Desdemona,  and  leads  to  the  difficulty  with  laffo. 
Professor  Bradley  has  made  little  or  nothing  of  this 
difference  m  his  interpretation  of  the  play,  but  in  the 
matter  of  the  personal  relations  of  Othello  with  Des- 
demona he  admits,  though  in  a  foot-note,  that  it  has 
not  been  sufficiently  realized.     He  says:     "The  effect 
of  difference  in  blood  in  increasing  Othello's  bewilder- 
ment regarding  his  wife  is  not  sufficiently  realized.    The 
same  effect  has  to  be  remembered  in  regard  to  Des- 
demona's    mistakes    in    dealing    with    Othello    in    his 
anger."!      But   this   is   not   enough.      The   difference 
of   blood   IS   a    factor   in    the   situation   of   the   play 
and  tne  course  of  the  plot.     There  may  or  may  not  be 
an  equality  of  the  races.      It  may   be  a  mistake  to 
regard  one  as  inferior  to  another.     But  there  is  at 
least  a  difference,  and  a  difference  that  renders  them 
m  some  matters  incompatible.     The  course  of  life  as 
well  as  of  this  play  presents  abundant  evidence  that 
there  is  not  enough  common  ground  for  a  permanent 
and  ethical  marriage  relationship  between  two  races  so 
different  from  one  another.     With  such  a  difference 
there  cannot  be  a  sufficient  harmony  and  frankness  in 
concerns  of  the  deepest  mutual  interest  to  overcome 
the  difficulties   sure   to  arise   in   a   lifelong  marriage. 
Such  a  marriage  has  almost  fatal  handicaps  and  em- 
barrassments from  the  start.     lago,  et.sily  the  clever- 
est and  wisest  person  of  the  play ,2  saw  this  and  planned 
to  take  a  hideous  advantage  of  it,  both  in  his  dealings 
ness  on  this  subject,  pp.  389-396,  espedaUy  that  from  Hunter. 

^Shakespearean  Tragedy,  p.  193. 

•Professor  Bradley  speaks  of  lago  as  "a  man  ten  times  as  able 
as  Cassio  or  even  Othello."     (Op.  cit.,  p.  921.) 


■  x _--.M-  ■.^--^■- 


^. 


OtheUo 


211 


suggestion  timt  he  go  in  and  IToal  Tk      I        *°  ' 

ohall  manifest  me  rightly:" 

(I.  il.  35-37.) 

He  was  bright  enough  to  foresee  opposition,  and  for 
his  reason  married  secretly,  but  not^far-s  eW  e„ouI 

Irou^ritn  h'  f ''''*^*?-'  "'  *^^  resentn^enti  woufd 

eradTcated  his  ^ti'"^  "•^'^^'-y  l^''^'  ^'^  ""*  ^n^^ely 
eraaicated  his  barbaric  view  of  his  relations  to  others 

and  as  we  have  seen  from  his  dealings  wUh  iLo  hid 
not  implanted  a  high  sense  of  honor  ^  '       ^ 

H,-  Tu^'X  ^^*^'  ^*^""°  ^*«  hi«  ^ife  secure  and  is 
dispatched  to  Cyprus,  that  lago  reveals  the  second 
reason  for  his  hatred.  The  matter,  however!  is  of  a 
srictly  personal  nature,  affecting 'the  honor  of  his 
wife,  and  therefore  cannot  be  made  known  to  Roderi^ 

tothThr::^:;^'^^"^^        ^"^^*-^- 

A„j  :*  s     ..        , ,     .  "I  hate  the  Moor, 

«e  nas  done  my  office.    I  know  not  ift  be  true 
But  I   for  mere  suspicion  in  that  kind.  ^' 

will  do,  as  if  for  surety." 

(I.  iii.  410-14.) 

Many  critics  are  disposed  to  hold  Othello  innocent 
of  this  wrong,  because  the  words  of  the  play  do  not  Dut 
It  beyond  doubt.  So  far  as  Emilia  is  fonJerned  how- 
ever, her  conversation  with  Desdemona  clearly  reveals 


^4^^ 


i.i\ 


212 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


f 


her  as  not  invulnerable.     (IV.  iii.)     It  seems  somewhat 
ngracous,  inasmuch  as  there  is  'no  proof  in  thTplav 
«tain"o7ir  "  ""^'^""'^  suspiciousness  of  women  tYe* 
with  Fmit  "T;"  P':;^^^""^  transgressions,  and  possibly 
si^derThat'oln     •""'  1?'  ^'°"r^'  ^°  ^""^^''^e  with 
to  regard  this  as  the  mam  grievance  of  lago.  and  that 
upon  which  the  play  turns.     The  main  conIXt  betwee 
Othello  and  lago  undoubtedly  is  that  outlined  bj  lago 
in  the  opening  scene  of  the  play.     Though  there  is  fo 
direct  proof  of  his  guilt  with  Emilia,  the^loud  of  sus- 
picion  certainly  hangs    over  Othello  all  through  the 
play,  and  unavoidably  affects  our  estimate  of  his  char- 
acter.    It  apparently  suits  the  dramatist's  purpose  not 
to  remove  the  doubt,   for  it   is  mere  susSn   uZ 
which  many  of  the  conflicts  of  the  play  Cns- this 
among  others.     These  suspicions,  it'^is  "^^n  ^ortlnt  to 
notice,  all  have  to  do  with  Othello's  charact^er  and  his 
ill-adjusted  relations  with  his  adopted  fellow-citizen 
Phe  mam   conflict  of  the   play,  that  between  OtheHo 
and  lago,  springs  from  well-founded  charges,  and  the 
?K  mlT,"^'"*^  suspicions,  but  all  alike  have  to  do 
lifalfke    h"^  relations  with  the  people  of  Venice   and 
o"thefr  If    ""  '^^  *°  '""^"*"^"  *^^  standards 


VI 

Having  now  studied  the  two  conflicts  into  which  the 

look  ar.lT''""  °'  ''*^.^"°  ''''  ^""'  ''  -  necessary  to 
look  at  these  same  conflicts  from  the  side  of  the  other 

persons,  and  to  try  to  understand  especially  the  mind 

D  av    Vh         ^r     "^^J^^^  ^nd  the  development  of  the 
play.     The  condemnation  of  lago  has  been  so  nearly 


j^'.t. 


OtheUo 


218 


object  of'.j.z'\zit4.  r'cf -ri ':, •- *^' 

unscrupulous  cunnino-  A>,n„f  k-      il  *    ^^^   *"^ 

and  a  dastardly  and  .,nr!l    !•       .  ^?"  '"  ^'^  schemes, 

pursuit  „,  hif  L^^haTLttTiXr  ir "'  "■! 

for  its  own  suLa    q«^  *.u   i.  1   appear  to  love  evil 

destroyer  of  Othello     tL         ^  T!"  grievance  as  the 
criminal.  ^  °^  ^  ""'"^  ^°^«  "«*  n>ake  it  less 

the  malignity  S^uZ^,?^YIT     °'"  '"S*'"'  "•"* 

due  to  hTs  Jo„"sdor„"/o  t'  3 1:'  "-^  p'7  ■' 

ful  fonsid^rat L;  irtaToff"  t^  ""il'^  /"'  "-'  «-- 

by  Professor  Bradlov  to  Sh/^    -f"*  •'J'""'^  "^O"' 
;i..«.™.  ,.  S»^„;?J:p"5:^'  '''  "<'■»"'  «  the  popular 

■W  S'h.T"- ■'■'■. V""''  Cmpbell,  p.  239 


I     ■ 


L«s>i^a^a£i^^5 


814 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


'ii 


t  ? 


view  of  lago  need  not  detain  us  longer  than  to  say  that 
his  very  popular  statement  of  that  view  has  by  no  means 
exhausted  the  depth  of  meaning  it  contains  any  more 
than  the  old  popular  form  of  the  stories  is  to  be  taken 
as  adequate  for  Shakespeare's  versions.  Leaving  this 
aside,  however,  for  the  present  with  Professor  Brad- 
ley's criticisms  of  other  views,  let  us  notice  his  own 
theories  of  lago. 

Professor  Bradley's  view  seems  to  K;  that  lago  is 
moved  by  envy  and  jealousy  of  others  in  better  posi- 
tions than  himself.  He  says,  "Whatever  disturbs  or 
wounds  his  sense  of  superiority  irritates  him  at  once ; 
and  in  that  sense  he  is  highly  competitive.  This  is 
why  the  appointment  of  Cassio  provokes  him.  This  is 
why  Cassio's  scientific  attainments  provoke  him."  ^ 
Again  he  says  of  lago  that  "Othello's  eminence,  Othel- 
lo's goodness,  and  his  own  dependence  on  Othello  must 
have  been  a  perpetual  annoyance  to  him.  At  any  time 
he  would  have  enjoyed  befooling  and  tormenting  Othel- 
lo." ^  And  then  he  explains  lago's  casting  off  the 
mask  at  this  time  by  saying  that  "His  thwarted  tense  of 
superiority  wants  satisfaction."  * 

But  this  explanation  is  too  general  and  goes  too  far. 
If  lago  is  merely  envious  of  Cassio,  and  feels  that  his 
sense  of  superiority  is  wounded  by  the  promotion  of 
Cassio,  then  for  the  same  reason  he  should  have  beer 
envious  of  Othello  as  well,  for  as  Professor  Bradley 
himself  says,  he  is  "a  man  ten  times  as  able  as  Cassio 
or  even  Othello.'"'  Up  to  this  time  lago  seems  never 
to  have  been  envious  of  Othello,  but  on  the  contrary 
served  him  as  his  faithful  and  willing  "ancient,"  until 
passed    over    in    the    promotion   of   Cassio.      He    did 


*  Shak0»p«ar0an  Tragady, 

*  Op.  ciL,  p.  228. 


p.  221.     »  Op.  ctf .,  p.  229. 
*Op.  eit.,  p.  SSI. 


OtheUo 


Slff 


to  whom  he  wf,  bv  n.fl  ^      ""■"  '"P*""'  *»  "«>« 

m  the  conduct  of  lairo  is  duo  t n  u       •  the  change 

■•-«  off  a  m«7k    but  of  w    i-"'^J  '  """"•■■  "'  "'""'- 

character  of  Co  a„d  f  h!  ""■''"°  <>?<■■•««"«  upon  the 

thed  c.   „T-vt'/::::i\trr"ors:' 

swfhat  hJL  tt^r .LTo  h^-eSrSat  t.^: 

■n  pushmg  the  punishment  of  his  enemie,*£"„„d  the 
JPJ«.^and  i„  science,,  fn  VJ,"." ^tSJ^^'f  'H.^Jit; 


,.4 


«16 


Ifamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


full   moa-uro  of  tho   oflTrnce,   but   oven    this  dcu's   not 
make  h,m  «  fiend  .nc.rnato.    Ia«o  launches  hi«  p„i,oncd 

and  who  have  stood    n  hi,  way.     His  initial  ambit  ons 
and  hopes  were  legitimate  and  proper,  but  his  relent 
less  revenge  on  those  who  interfered  was  extrenr«H 
dmbd.e«l.     Yet  he  is  by  no  means  such  a  villain     ' 

them  th  "'  r.^'t'^'*^/^^  '^^•^^'  "»^«-'  Hmbitio.,riod 
them  through  the  blood  of  all  who  stood  in  their  way 
to  the  throne.     lago's  malignity  rests  upon  two  deep 

Jn  the  first  instance  the  aggressor,  but  the  sufferer,  and 
only  resents  and  tries  to  avenge  the  injuries  done  him. 
To  regard  lago  as  the  arch-villain  is  to  overlook  the 
fact  made  so  plain  m  the  play  that  it  was  Othello  that 

Ti^f  *  ^  M^l'i^'"''*  """"^  "°*  ^^So-  But  some  are  so  con- 
stituted that  they  can  never  see  the  evil  of  an  affirres- 
sive  wrong,  but  are  ready  to  condemn  any  person  who 
^hers'  '''''*'"*  °'  **""  nefarious  practices  of 

fi  Jt  *"^"'P.*  \°  ^'^''''''^''  ^'*'?°'«  ""^^^^^^  '*»  not  to  jus- 
tify him,  or  to  try  to  palliate  his  wickedness.     No  real 

?fnf,T-f'*"  ^  T^'  ^°'  ^"  character  and  conduct, 
though  It  is  important  to  understand  his  mental  state.i 
His  motives  can  be  claimed  to  be  psychologically  ade- 
quate as  motives  without  admitting  that  they  are  mor- 
r£v  ?«ri  °'  J"«*»fi«We.  If  we  are  to  continue  to 
th  nk  of  Shakespeare  as  a  dramatic  genius  we  must  not 
first  put  one  of  his  characters  outside  the  human  race 
by  making  him  an  impossible  monster  and  then  pro- 
claim our  admiration  for  the  dramatist  by  declaring 


•uQv  III  a  vuiuuie  er 
Ex«t«r,  as  long  ago 


-•.•r.,.--;s&s:;^ 


OtheUo 


«17 


]^go  a  groat  creation.     The  nlnv   n.lr..  i,- 

bc'-ng  with  human  bi.t  evil  n.o^tivc;  u„d",'?*"'  *  *"""•" 

10U8  use  of  the  dune  n^\J'     "^'J *^'*»  ""«  "'»  imscrupu- 

le^sness.     MoreZr     ^^n,  ^"'  t^T  '""  "'"''"^^  »»««rt. 

the  Puni.sh.en;tUj'o"  t^  (^  If  '"'"^  ^^''^^ 
^'diy  out  of  aJI  proportion  Lf.i  "'''  ""^°»^*- 
He  couJd  not  foLivrfu"   •     •"'  "'^*^"*^^  committed. 

i.«d  u,,,e,,,,,  "X^nut  j";!;^^^^^^^^^ 

When  mer/y  K«n,'justlc«^"  '""'^  "''''''*  ^^^'^ 

(IV.   I.  903-7.) 

l-or  lago  to  plague  Othello  to  the  murder  n(  K'  •/  . 
to  his  own  death  was  fn  "  "'^  "'"^^^'r  of  his  wife  and 
^^rthing  and  to  worsh.o  thn  •  T"^  *^""  ^^'  ^^^^st 
Italian  revenge  ZZ  dLVoH  "  "^  '/T'^"^^'  S"^^^ 
-r   s.mpath',   wPm^^ht  ^t^^^^^^^^  f  **" 

He  IS  severe  and  unfor^vinir     nd  in  fr  '       /"''   '*«"• 
tJ'o  wrong  done  him   u^rubfed,v  "    '^^"^  ^^ 
wrong.     This   is  s.,ffio:r V        ?^  commits  a  g.-ater 

tempLgtrtakeaw?.vXr''T*^^^^  "^'*^«"*  **" 
any  real  motive  tZuI  ZT%  \l  ^^'"^^"«  ^''» 
earlier  life,  yot  when  hri.,  t*^   throughout   his 

was  as  unfoVt;?;/;,^/;;^^^^^^^^  -d  wronged  he 
phase  of  his  character  was  fli.  *  '''?'"*'  ™» 
who  knew  him  best,  but  s  ill  if -f  '"^"X^  *<>  those 
closure  or  development  *  conceivable  dis- 

inclufflfto.:'  ;rf :re"^  "  --prehensive  as  to 
he  suffered:  '"  concerned  in  the  injuries 

That  he  is  too  familiar  with  Ws  wife  " 

(I.  lii.  418-420.) 


SI  8 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


i  <;: 


This  would  at  once  feed  fat  his  revenge  on  Othello,  who 
was  the  direct  agent  in  both  his  injuries;  would  enable 
him  to  strike  at  Desdemona  whose  interest  in  Cassio 
ij  ^jl"  ***^  lieutenancy;  and  at  the  same  time 
would  rid  him  of  Cassio,  whose  promotion  had  thwarted 
his  ambition.  His  boldness,  fearlessness,  and  deceit 
were  equal  to  the  task,  and  would  avail  to  use  the  gull, 
Roderigo,  for  his  purpose. 

The  storm  that  struck  the  Venetians  on  their  way 
to  Cyprus  also  struck  the  Turks,  and  did  more  com- 
plete  destruction    than    Othello's    forces    could   have 
accomplished.     This  furnished  lago  with  all  necessary 
freedom   and   opportunity   to  work   out   his   intrigues 
upon  the  company.     He  opened  his  attack  by  inciting 
Roderigo  further  against  Cassio,  stirring  up  his  jeal- 
ousy by  saying  that  Desdemona  was  already  tiring  of 
Othello  and  was  even  now  in  love  with  Cassio.     Desde- 
mona, he  asserts,  cannot  much  longer  be  infatuated  with 
Othello,  but  must  turn  to  one  of  her  own  riice.     "Her 
eye  must  be  fed."    She  must  have  a  man  of  a  favorable 
appearance,  which  to  them  meant  one  of  her  own  race. 
There  is  none  more  likely  than  her  old  friend,  Cassio! 
who  it  must  be  acknowledged  is  "a  very  proper  man." 
This  wise  observer  further  announces  the  very  reason- 
able view  that  for  a  happy  marriage  there  must  bo 
"loveliness  in  favor,  sympathy  in  years,  manners,  and 
beauties;  all  which  the  Moor  is  defective  in."     (H.  i. 
262-3.)     And  lago  persuades  the  poor  fool  Roderigo 
that  if  Cassio  is  only  out  of  the  way,  then  he  will  un- 
doubtedly be  Desdemona's  next  choice. 

As  for  Othello,  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  dearly 
loved  the  gentle  Desdemona,  and  was  very  proud  of 
her.  As  Coleridge  said,  "Otheilo  had  no  life  but  in 
Desdemona:— the  belief  that  she,  his  angel,  had  fallen 


^^■^^wn^ 


Othello 


219 


had  got  the  better  of  tV^  •-     .^^^V^  1°^^  ^^''  ^^ 
her,  he  could  not  hlv     .  ""'^    "'     ^^'^  ^^  »«*  loved 
trust,  and  ^ouldnoT'.^Z'''  ""^^^  P"*  ^»*°  <»»- 
Indifference  does  not  '  Z  ^Z  "    "'"^^  ^3^  doubt. 
'«    not    the    mother    of 'dttrii^t  "'S' ^""^  unconcern 

not  so  much  jealousy  as  pride  f^r  «  P*''^°"    ^*« 

remarked,  it  was  Ia«,  wh"  t  '  *'  '"^^^^  ^"*"8  have 
man.^  It  was  his  .feaf  aff^r  ^^\^"*^«"3^  the  jealous 
feel  so  deeply  the  staTn  nf  5  v.  "  *^**  "^"««<^  him  to 
-If  -ughrmlt:^"^^^^^^^^  Hehadnothim- 

«nd  even  then  she  wS  ha^f  f  K  '"r  °   »^«demona, 

for  the  one  good  and  suffil  .  ''°'^'-  "^  "^«"ied  her 
jn  love,  and^had  rather  "rT"  *^"*  ^^  ^^^  ^-"^" 
h'fe  of  the  bachelor  to  take  on  h-"^  ^,7^"^  *^^  ^'^ 
-trimony.    But  love  UtrtS  L^tt^^^^^^^^^  °^ 

Put  into  circumsc?inHnn       T  <=°ndi«on 
For  the  sea's  worth?'      •  *°*^  '=°'^«' 

(I.  ii.  27-31.) 

must  be  made  the  meanr  Th.  «  *  T^''  ""^  ^assio 
Roderigo  to  "find  some  occaTfon  t'  '^'^  T  *^  ^'""*« 
I.  298-9),  for  "he's  rihlT  ^^^^  ^^"*'>"  («• 
and  happily  may%\rireV"/j!f^  ^f  f-  -  choLr: 
lago  will  exert  himself  to  It  rt  •'/*",'  *^"»^ 
the.,  he  is  "as  full  of  quarrel  Z  nW.  \  ^'■""^'  '°' 
mistress'  dog."    (H  fZ^  ?"%?»''*  ^'  "^^  ^^^ng 

l^rSI'^^'^^J'^^^^  The  result  of  this  wilf 


II.  p.  «W. 


urness.  pp.  88-9;  Tennyson.  itfe«o.>. 


220 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


' 


be  that  Othello  w,ll  dismiss  C'assio  from  the  lieutenancy 
and  the  coveted  post  will  fall  to  lago.  To  th  send^ 
holiday  IS  proclaimed,  and  in  a  ni|ht  of  revelry  an 
carousmg  lago  succeeds  in  making  Cassio  drunk  ^  Th 
scheme  turns  out  better  than  he  anticipated,  fo 
Cassio  not  only  gets  into  trouble  with  Roderigo  bu 
a  so  with  Montano,  Othello's  predecessor  in  tif'offic 
by  Ot™        ^^P'"''  '"^  "  immediately  dismissed 

dpfiiuf  "°^' J*«°.h«d  apparently  formulated  no 
definite  plan  by  which  to  make  Othello  jealous  of 
Cassio.     When  he  first  conceived  the  idea  he  intended, 

"il^V^"^*^}'™^'  to  abuse  Othello's  ears, 
Ihat  he  is  too  familiar  with  his  wife." 
(I.  iii.  419-420.) 

With  the  fortunate  turn  he  has  now  given  to  events 
he  devises  a  scheme  for  abusing  Othello's  ear.  When 
Cassio  comes  to  hJ^  i„  ^^cat  distress  because  of  his 
fall,  and  wants  his  kind  offices,  I^  advises  him  to  entreat 
Desdeniona  to  intercede  for  him  with  Othello :  "Confess 
yourself  freely  to  her:  importune  her  help  to  put  you 

m  your  place  again This  broken  joint  between 

"°o.S"ii?  husband,  entreat  her  to  splinter."  fH 
II.  847-362  )  His  delight  in  this  scheme  lago  voices 
m  words  that  show  how  fully  he  realizes  the  diabolical 
character  of  the  plan.  At  the  same  time  he  reveal 
how  fuUy  he  includes  Desdemona  in  his  revenge,  as 
the  instigator  of  his  injuries: 

"So  will  I  turn  her  virtue  into  pitch, 

TKo*  °l\?    ^"  own  goodness  make  the  net. 
inat  shtOI  en-mesh  them  all." 

(II.  li.  391-3.) 
Not  at  once,  but  after  the  failure  of  Cassio's  at- 
tempts to  reinstate  himself  in  the  confidence  of  Othello, 


"  ^V^i;  ^' 


OtheUc 


221 


as 


T  221 

to  mean  either  that  there  «rlJth  "  ''°'''  """  »«^«» 
.'"  l-is  mind,  or  that  he  had  U.  f  gnovance,  staj 
n  ve„  ,^^  .^^  J.e  had  learned  to  tale  delight 

that  lago  did  not  yet  thinl  tl!'*  ?^"«. *»■"">  seems  to  be 

Mk   'n""!^""'  f-hVhal^in  ■«'■«<' been  „etel 
f'lC'  alleged  wron^  wit),  S  "•,  •'^"  suffered  nothine  for 

»;«»  still  not  satiled  ten  be  t,  /  U  •'"^'  ""at  'ij^o' 
vnAcation  for  the  sUght  i  ft  ""'''""'•''  *'»  desirfd 
seems  to  indicate  the  lfr;„  Promotion  of  Cassio 

upon  the  affair  conoe.nin"  ^'"''?, '"'>  "•"-=''  <>«  wS 
-suming  him  to  be  a  " "fcf '    The  alternafW 
preferable,  for  it  robs  lagotf  hi! T  ''"«"'"<='=  »^">s  les., 
<lramat,st  of  bis  .upreme^humanitr";!  "*'""  ""d  the 
It  has  often  been  thought  that^o'"''  'T"'"'  »™se. 
follows  lago's  devices,  afd  th»f  '°°  ™»h  «ood  luck 
-«.t  upon  him  too  faiU,?u%     ftoT    '"Jc?"-^  ■='""'<» 
Raleigh   says,   very   curiZiv    f h  !'"?  ^^''^  "'"l*" 
chances  were  all  against  the  "*  •         *''*'*'  'i" 

points  in  the  story  1  s  ip  or   *!'""  T''  "'  «  ^o^n 
brought  lago's  fabric  X„t  W,  T"*??  """'''  '""« 
Bradley,  apparently  powesaL  K    T"       I'rofessor 
sa.vs  that  it  "confo™r?s^->  **'  T™  "'<»'8''t. 
ments'li"'"'"  ^"-  -itS  Xn:.f7'7^-  "  •  «>•» 


.4 


^.y'j^i.jisrffue&i^. 


'?:tJ^!ai  tfiffc.-:^j*'':8£r-:-J2?A*_rf  5»f. 


»22 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


stated  this  quite  clearly  eonoerning  OtJiello:  "The 
distinguishing  peculiarity  of  our  [this]  drama  consists 
in  Its  being  a  tragedy  of  intrigue,  whereas  all  Shake- 
speare s  other  tragedies  are  rather  tragedies  of  charac- 
*<T,  But  there  is  no  occasion  to  take  Othello  out 

from  the  main  body  of  Shakespearean  tragedy,  for  no 
less  than  the  others  it  is  a  tragedy  of  character,  but 
the  forces  and  factors  have  been  so  subtle  and  complex 
that  we  have  merely  failed  to  unravel  them.  To  re- 
gard Othello  as  a  drama  of  intrigue  would  be  to  put  it 
on  a  much  lower  plane  of  art  than  the  other  plays,  and 
would  also  involve  assigning  to  it  a  more  pessimistic 
and  hopeless  view  of  life  and  of  the  world.  For  this 
readers  and  students  are  scarcely  prepared. 

It  'nust  be  admitted  sooner  or  later  that  the  trouble 
IS  in  the  incongruous  marriage  of  Othello  and  Desde- 
mona.     To   try   to   suggest   other   ways    out    of   the 
trouble   than   are   to  be  found   in   the  play  itself  is 
simply  to  try  to  undo  Shakespeare.     For  Othello  to 
strike  down  lago  at  the  bare  suggestion  of  his  wife's 
unfaithfulness,  as  Professor  Raleigh  intimates  he  should 
do,  would  not  render  the  marriage  of  the  two  any  more 
ideal  or  any  less   unnatural      It  would  merely  have 
lengthened  out  the  thread  of  Othello's  existence,  and 
have   afforded   time   other  opportunities    to   plan   his 
downfall.     The  hand  of  force  cannot  hold  back  moral 
necessities,  nor  can  outer  hindrances  prevent  the  work- 
ing of  inner  forces.     In  developing  Othello's  passion 
and  character  into  tragedy,  Shakespeare  was  experi- 
menting with  it,  and  seeing  how  it  would  work  out 
under  the  most  unfavorable  conditions.     But  to  place 
it  in  favorable  conditions  where,  perchance,  it  would 
^aiMketptarefa  Dramatic  Art,  184T,  Eng.   trans,  in   Furness, 


*>4$o:* 


Othello 


22S 


«^tuiXS:S  ^:'X^  -"^^  "-  Have  eon- 
«t^st  saw,  what  mfn;  "rfties  do' nT"'°"\  ^^^  ^-^- 
may  g,ve  /om  to  dramatic  nlw       ''"'  *^^*  '^^"d^nt 
tHcir    evolution.       Burdramat-e''"''  m^  ™"^  ^'^^t-" 
created  by  accidents,  and  arrnnJ    T^^l"^    ^''    "<>* 
Trapdy  must  alwa;s  deal  with  /?^^^  accidents. 
n|u«t  g,ye  onlj  real  sdutt  «  ^th?"^  ^^P^^^''°"  ^°^ 
^luch  wiser,  then,  is  the  viW  of  pr/°"^'^i«  developed, 
^^uch  more  in  accordance  with  Th'-^' "^'^°'^'^nd 
"Even  the  trickery  of  Wn  'P'"*  °^  *h^  play: 

-d  poorly  as  it  wou  d  Z'rftV"^  ^^""^^  - '*  - 
completely  succeeds.     OthX's  Inv        '"^'^  °^  ^"*^^^"^> 
;ts  intensity,  and  its  biyndnm   har;^"  '''  -mplexity 
tragic  passion."  ^  '"'  ^*^  *he  very  quality  of 

The  situation,  then    th«f  fi,       i 

onmmense  possibili^L  of  ^ro^bto"""*^  ^'«  ^"" 
relations  of  Othello  and  n  ^  ^""^  sorrow.     Tho 

and  exceedingly  un3taWelT°"*  ^^^  ^^''^^  delicate 
very  precariolaJpo"  S^'  Th.  ''^  ^"^  ^^^s  in  a 
of  their  marriage  has  not  Jv.  "nfu*,'?'"^'  relationship 
on  his  wife's  afff  ctions  and  h^  "^'"°  ^  ^^^"^^  ^old 
-omen  have  been  such  as  to  1^7°"'  '^^"*^°"«  ^^^^ 
ceptible  to  distrust      The  diff  "*  Peculiarly  sus- 

I'im  and  his  wife  is  a  matter  IriH- "^  ^°^°^  ^*-^«« 
nent  in  the  play,  and  has  '4:^  hL Tk""^^  P'^"^" 
and  has  rendered  him  exceedTn^.  ^  ""?^  uneasiness, 
^hen  a  white  man  is  Wo^^."^"^"""*^^^' ^«P^cialIy 
wife's  fidelity.  Tt  wouidT-  "^  '"^  ^'  ^°"»>*  of  his 
tune  if  thes^e  two  wer  not 'to'T '^^ f  \°^  ^°°^  ^- 
marital  relationships  ^  disturbed  in  their 

^^^r'rZ^^^^^^^^^  tr  ever  lago  how  fragi'le 


2^5:^ 


S24 


Hamlet,  on  Ideal  Prince 


full  use  of  h.s  knowledge  and  his  opportunity.  He  ver 
gladly  avads  himself  of  the  chance^o  use  Cas"o  Is  i 
bait  to  entrap  Othello,  for  it  was  he  that  had  oMaL 
the  heutenancy  and  he  was  also  suspected  with  eS 

cLl'  U  ^^T  *°  '"«^^^*  '^''^^y  t°  Othello  tha 
heZJ  f  °^^*^,"  t^  ^'^'"dly  with  Desdemona,  anc 
he  goes  «o  far  as  to  say  that  she  "repeals  (recalls)  hiir 

^vond'a  d^l^r'-  '"  °^^"-  *°  ^°-^"-  Othellc 
toother  "''''"^'  *^  ^'*  ^™  '""   *^^  *^" 

'\;A  K^**^^t.*  '!'"^®'  *°  ^"^^  the  Moor  apart, 

(II.  ii.  418-420.) 

Under  the  peculiar  conditions  of  her  marriage  Des- 
uemona  was  exceedingly  unwise  to  manifest  sf  much 

r  enTli"   '^7''''     ^^   """^^   ^^  ^^  ^^^   ^een   her 
fnend  before  her  marriage  and  had  indeed  helped  to 

bring  the  marriage  about,  she  should  have  realized  how 
fragile  were  her  relations  with  her  husband.     It  never 
seems  to  have  entered  her  simple  mind,  however,  that 
her  relations  with  her  Moorish  husband  needed  any 
solicitous  care  on  her  part.     lago's  plot  to  destroy 
their  marriage  was  exceedingly  bold  and  clumsy,  and 
as  Professor  Herford  has  said,  "ill-calculated  .         to 
wreck  a  normal  marriage;  but  it  is  launched  againk  a 
relationship  so  dehcately  poised  that  a  touch  suffices 
'we'd'fi  U  »     Til°'r*h  only  the  training  of  the 
tented   field,"    and   Desdemona   with    none   but   that 
gained  m  her  father's  home  and  under  his  tuition,  were 
ill-fttted  to  maintain  m  peace  a  marriage  that  required 
the  most  consummate  care  and  the  most  delicate  bal- 
^"top^'eu      '^f  "^*^"^  '^  Desdemona  was  any  more  able 


Othello 

old  faend,  was  quite  Id-*      '  '"'  ">"'  he  was  an 

De.demona>,  childliko  Sn         '"  '"  "'">"Mt  I«g„  •' 
°'Jf  "^'^Mocrish  dJi:;if"'""»  "*'  "^«  match«rby 

ll;'"T.^"'!^"'r^^^^^^  of  Ia«„,  art 

'«'ny  of  his  schemes  are  i„  lir!  *'"'>o".  the  vil- 
t"g.c  perversity  of  Othe »„  •  t"^  ™"''-''^t  "ith  the 
^'t'  and  unsuspieious  of  I  '"  5^"'«  ^"'Picious  of  hi, 
pathetic  thi„(,  i,  ;n  ""T  and  everybody  else      Tt. 

a-d  could  no?  t  tdeTo  •1°.''"^'^'^  '"  ^^r,g  S 
Panty  between  him  a„d  t^^Z\f\  '"■"'•     Thf  d  ,.' 
Pkte  union  of  hearts  »nj      •  i  *''"*  ■'endcred  a  corn- 
cause  of  his  suspic^n  aSS  di"';"'''  impossible,  w«  the 
7-:c  circumstances  of  their  ,:"*•     ™''  ""'^  "-^  the 
of  the  tragedy.     And  the  extc-n',r%^  ^^a'  -urce 
and  color  of  the  old  storv  h„:^  "n'-l-eness  of  race 
Shakespeare  into  but  the  dram,,'"  '■•""'formed  by 
an  ™er,  deeper,  and  sp  rituaw"*"  "«?.«''  »3™bol  of 
This  IS  a  I  in  accord„„       ".,  """"Patib  ity. 

"■ethod  to  be  seen  in  Xr"^^  ^'"'''"Peare-I  dramatic 
followed  in  this  play  tl^/a    P  "r  \'  """•      «'  simply 
plays  when  he  tran^formS  tlj^iu  *"  '"'''P'^d  i»  otK 
by  making  the  externalXir  tv  ^^7'",?  ">'  «">ello 
into  an  inner  inconeruitv  nf      •^•.     ""^  old  story  over 
«fs  practice  in  adS  ear  fer  d     "  Z""'  «•»  d™"" 
to  change  the  entire  meaning  o/tf";'""^  """"'»'  »ot 
to  widen  and  deepen  it    »£i      ■       f'"""?  °'  play,  but 
r^'^'Knific.nce.P  Ws'  hedifr^i'  '""''  "■'«'  -^ 
7^  jV«^cia„(  of  Venice    uZ,,  *'"T''  ""^  •''*<. 
plays.     The  tragedies  tf  life  rrf^l?'^   "'^y  "the; 
"-.^-s  of  favor,  or  to  4^:^":,^^^^- 


■' Ai^'j 


:-^.s^^r'!flrja@iM£^-ir;riP^«F^:- 


^^f^ 


S£6 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


■  :! 


but  to  irreconcilability  of  spirit  and  of  aims  and  ideals 
In  the  case  of  Othello  if  the  difference  had  been  one  o 
mo^?fh       .r^^'..?"^.  "°  ^^^P^^'  '*  -°"W  have  taker 

peace  But  h  "i  '.Tk^  'T''  °^  ^^^  *°  ""-t«^  i*' 
peace.  But  back  of  the  color  was  the  deeper  and  fun- 
damental conflict  of  spirit  that  was  the^ealob  eci 

»Jfv  £»?  '"     r'"*-     ^^«°  °^^*^^  ^""  "«*^  of  the  diver- 
sity between  the  Lwo  when  ur^ng  Roderigo  into  his 
service,  and  shows  that  he  recognizes  not  only  the  d 
versity  in    'favor,"  but  also  that  of  "years,  manner 
and    beauties."     When    inciting   Othelll   howTve"     he 

the  eye,  for  Othello  was  a  man  of  the  senses : 

»T         .,,  "I  may  fear 

Her  wi      recoiUng  to  her  better  judirmpnt. 

(III.  iii.  276-9.) 

The  Moor's  lack  of  the  essential  elements  of  culture 
and  civihzation  has  not  been  sufficiently  observed. 
Othe  lo  IS  not  a  man  of  intellect,  but  lives  his  life  almost 

S  '"  .  n  "T"'-  ,^*^"°  ^^»°  P^^««"t«  to  h™  indi- 
cations of  Desdemona's  wrong-doing,  he  asks  at  once 
to  be  given  "ocular  proof."  He  can  believe  only  what 
?o  h!^*  Evidence  other  than  "ocular"  means  nothing 
to  him.     It  IS  for  this  reason  that  the  evidence  of  the 

SnT  i  .if PP'^^'  '°  iJ'?^^^  *°  ^^'  Against  this 
evidence  of  the  senses    all  the  fondness,  the  sweetness, 

P^i.  W  "f '"^'!u°^  Desdemona  pass  for  nothing. 
Perfect  frankness,  the  very  quality  Desdemona  lacked, 
might  have  overcome  his  suspicion.  But  her  manifest 
embarrassment  at  the  accusation  only  added  fuel  to  the 

fm  °  in«"f '  •^t^  ^'  ^^^''-  "^^  ""^^^^  misgives." 
(III.  IV.   106.)     The  two  lacked  harmony  and   com 


^MlM^f^:Kji^m^Mj 


Othello 


ftrt 


that  would  k.  tra^d^  ^""'^  *^"*^  i*'**  rupture 

emulation  was   ti.e   intcrv tw  w   hTf '^''''  °^  ^"■ 
ijianca,  m  which  lairo  ->ontr^.     I        ,'*'"  concerning 
the  conversation  is  fbou    De2  *°  ">ake  Othello  think 
i«   believing  to   Othello    the  et^°""'     ^  °"^^  «^^i"« 
vinccs  Othello  beyond  k  aI  K?  r?""^"  ''^  ^•»»^«  ^on- 
"ot  to  be  trusted.^    The  iv„f  '  '      .?"''^°  ^^  ^  ^^^ 
not  believe  the  very  one  ho  ;^     .  '/  ''  *^**  0*^^"°  can- 
completely  trust.     He  isat'- 1   r'  '"^  ^^«"^^  "<>«* 
l3esderaona  lest  her  beaitv  J      •  *\^-M^o«tulate  with 
I^ike  the  half-savaJe  he  "s\f^"'^^^'"  °^  resolution, 
herself,   for  he  has   conc/nl  1'"^°*  ^'*  ^*^^  '^'^^  for 
cannot  endure  contrarcton       "^\  ''   ^"*>^'  «»d   he 
-nnot  give  1.1^  ''o^^prtr'^'of h""^'  ^^^'^™°- 
nothing  less  will  satisfy  Wm      H    fK      ^""ocence,  and 
to  kill  her  at  once,  "this^^ht^'       T^T  ^°"^^"^^« 
suggestion  defers  instant  act^Tn'  •  ^""i  °"^^  **  I««o'« 
a  more  perfect  retrib.^fln  k    '   "  °''^^''  *°  carry  out 
bed  she  has  polluted  ^^  strangling  her  in  the 

unX;*  certiL^tSot V  d  "^* t  ^^^^^«  °^  ^^^  and 
Apparently  to  all  h  si  frt  7?.^'"^"^   self-control 
control   were  amon^  hL   nnf.  '  5"  "°^'^''*3^  ^nd  self- 

Prof^sor  Bradley1rastVarkS^t"^4*^T^^ 
^^m^y  than  any  other  of  Shi  ?^  ^^^  ^^^^t^r 

^t  may  be  remarked  very  mu^  .rT^'/'  ^H'"  ^  and 

Julius  C^sar.     But  hil  Z^^F,""  t'^'^^  ^^^an  his 

Cassio  in  his  place    se^esaft/r"'  ^^P'"^'  leaving 

Plete  loss   of  sclf-cont^oT     Jr     ??*''^°  ''^  a  ccm- 

^  Shakespearean  TraXtm  "    ^^^^^"^ona    shows 


W: 


«28 


ffnmlet,  an  fdenl  Prince 


Could  neither  graie.  nor  pierce?" 
P       ,,  (IV.  1.  a95-9.) 

Iw  inTo'hS'.t"'  ?"T""  *""  P--"  himself 

tions  of  the  rights  rnH\r-f    ^.""^  /"excusable   viola- 

ess  and  power  of  command  over  others  mh^ll«  l  a  \ 
acquired  the  more  civilized  virf  n^  7  1/  "^  ^^^  "°* 
respect  for  others  °^  ^elf-command  and 

captivkv-  h.  /  U  °"'  T^'^  ^^«"'^«'  Poverty,  ^d 
foTtheH;;^     T      ^^^V"^"*""  *°  '^  "The  fixed  figure 

finger  at- ^^^^^^  ?^"  P^'  ^^^  ^^°"'  ^"^  "^"^"g 

nnger  at    ,  but  he  says  he  could  not  bear  "where  I  have 

flTirerroT  h"'*  M  •  *"  ^  discarded  thenc:- 
UV.  11.  54-70.)     He  could  not  endure  to  be  discardpH 

by  the  one  he  loved.     To  be  chosen  b.v  D^s^nfra^lth 


'3I:-"W' 


OtheUc 


SS9 


J»er  ejes  open,  and  then  to  bo  cast  off  t 
countryman  of  her  own  was  \n^l  u  /°''  '*"°*^^'-,  a 
'nent  for  him  to  be«r  iZhT  r  ."^  "  d^'appo^nt- 
will  not  endure,  and  It  .A  ^"'".''•«*'°n  '*"  Venice  he 
that  Othello  p  ans  to  ouit  V^'P"';  \^''''  ^«^°  »«J 
Mauritania  wSh  h  s  bride  L/.l"'  ^°''  ^"  °^"  "«tive 

bwd  w.-jj^  «e.no:,^;'^:;  ::fd  trer  ™°^^  ^^^  -^'^^ 

-ine  mooern  critics   «/  cu  i 
.«ti.fi.d  with  dlinl  othellfi"^"'^''".  ■"""•  "<•'  •»" 
"d««  -a.   one  of  *the  flr  t  to   y'°"  rJ™'^-     ^ole- 
«ccu,ation.'     It  i,  very  ,^1  n  if"""'  •'"■'""   "'<'  "W 
Mme  in  kind  as  th«t  „f  r       .      •  '  P*"'""  »  "ot  the 
There  i,  „„  Z^  "IpS^  H  'J'  "''»'"''  ^'^• 
he  web  of  hi,  diftru^t  froTZterSt   fT  """  '^"^  "P 
■ng.    It  never  dawn,  uporhta    hA  .^       '  "'"  ""'*'"■ 
(or  suspicion  until  the^"Jl"t  ons  If  ^  "  '"?  K"""'' 
jealousy    then,  but  as  PrSrBrL!'*"-    "  "  "•' 
thf  wreek  of  his  faith  and  hTs  L^e"  tt^/"^''  7*  » 
Misfortune  he  could  endure   b^t  Z  ^'^     """^  •"'"■•' 
c«.t  off  by  Desdemona  ?or  one  ^ho  t.°r"-  7".  "^ 
his  own  lieutenant,  was  an  17r     ..':'.  ■"'  '"fcrior, 
''as  too  much  to  be^r      He  th»T7"A'°.  ]!'■'  P"*"'  «>«' 
"•on  of  royal  seige  could  n^     i"*"^  '"'  """d  fr"" 
fcrior  to  his  own  Sutena^t     miTn"""'  *"  "^  "««'^  '"- 
rn,  and  boasted  hrr'a,  ifnea  "" '^' V!,'^  P""«' 
P.e.ons  that  Desdcmona  ™„  d  ev?;  h^d    "^  ""  '".'■ 
higher  esteem  than  himself    ,„jTk  ""^  "^  '" 

'he  was  false  with  cl^!^  J       '"".^  suggestion  that 

Lecture,,  nn  Shakespeare,  pp.  381   386   ^<N  ^.r/. 
.VAa*e*pearMn  Tragedy,  p.  m,       ^'  ^^'  *'^'^'  ^29. 


230 


HamUt,  an  Ideal  Prince 


involved  the  inferiority  of  himself  mul  hin  race,  ami 
thi»  he  could  not  endure.  No  other  person  hnd  ever 
dared  to  do  an  act  that  sngffested  in  any  way  his 
inferiority,  and  he  would  not  take  it  even  from  his  wife. 
All  his  resentment  was  kindled,  and  he  sprang  to  his 
own  defence,  and  even  in  the  presence  of  the  Venetian 
envoy  he  would  strike  down  such  an  insult.  It  was 
not  jealousy,  and  not  mere  wounded  honor,  that  en- 
raged Othello,  but  outraged  pride.  It  was  not  Dcsde- 
mona  who  had  brought  dignity  and  position  to  him  by 
the  marriage.  It  was  he  that  had  conferred  dignity 
and  royalty  upon  her.  He  could  not  endure  any  act 
that  disparaged  the  high  dignity  of  his  birth,  and  made 
him  to  be  the  inferior  of  a  common  Venetian.  For 
this  he  was  never  able  to  forgive  Cassio,  and  in  time 
promoted  lago  to  the  lost  litutenanc}',  for  he  at  least 
would  never  challenge  the  dignity  of  his  commander  by 
any  act  like  that  of  Cassio. 


VII 

And  now  for  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter. 
Shakespeare's  final  scenes  are  of  equal  importance  with 
his  first  scenes.  In  the  opening  scenes  he  sets  before 
his  audience  the  various  persons  who  enter  into  the 
conflict,  and  indicates  the  lines  of  their  collisions.  In 
the  concluding  scenes  he  draws  the  whole  matter  to  a 
moral  and  dramatic  culmination  that  is  in  effect  his 
judgment  upon  the  problems  of  the  play.  Here  he  dis- 
entangles the  various  threads  that  he  has  woven  into 
the  complexity  of  the  plot,  and  in  so  doing  gives  his 
verdict  upon  the  merits  of  the  conflict.  In  no  play  is 
it  more  important  to  observe  the  outcome  and  the  des- 
tiny assigned  to  the  persons   of  the  drama  than  in 


^m^^M^M 


OtheUo 


SSI 


OtheUo. 

Kven  boforo  tho  conclusion  of  the  fourth  act  Ugo'n 
schemes  be^n  to  be  discovered.      R„dcri^  is  the  first 
to  got  his  eyes  open,  and  this  makes  it  necessary  for 
layo  to  use  the  last  desperate  chance  to  cet   rid  of 
both  him  and  Cassio.     Othello,  too,  must  be  kept  on 
the  rack,  and  must  be  kept  from  suspecting  the  plots 
against  him      There  is  no  such  thing  as  turning,  back 
now,  and  indeed  lago  gives  no  evidence  of  regret  at 
having  gone  so  far,  or  of  a  desire  to  retrace  his  steps. 
He  IS  whole-hearted  in  his  villainy,  and  only  desires 
he  [ulfilment  of  his  plans.     His  persuasive  craftiness 
ims  kept  both  Rodengo  and  Cassio  unconsciously  serv- 
ing hmi,  while  they  are  led  toward  their  own  undoing. 
When  he  has  got  all  the  service  they  can  render  him, 
he  adroitly   turns   them   upon   each   other.     No   tears 
need  be  shed,  however,  over  the  sick  fool,  Roderigo,  for 
this  gentleman,  when  he  could  not  get  Desdemona  for 
his  wife,  gave  himself  and  his  money  up  to  an  attempt 
to  corrupt  her  as  the  wife  of  Othello.     Cassio,  how- 
ever, has  been  the  more  or  less  innocent  victim  of  the 
fnendship  of  Othello  and  the  envy  of  lago,  and  the 
dramatist  makes  him  survive  all  the  intrigues  of  his 
enemy,  and  at  last  places  him  in  the  governorship  of 
Cyprus  as  the  successor  of  Othello. 

With  the  austerity  of  a  jud.sfe  the  dramatist  has 
Othello  carry  out  tho  sentence  of  destruction  on  his 
wife  and  on  himself.  The  Moor's  ferocious  passion 
arms  him  to  execute  his  vengeance  upon  Desdemona. 
With  coolness,  but  with  heavy  sorrow,  ho  enters  the 
bod-ehamber  of  his  wife,  to  destroy  her  whose  supposed 
tmnsgression  had  ruined  his  happiness  and  almost  his 
life  Ihe  wild-beast  fury  of  his  anger  has  exhausted 
Itself,  and  gives  way  to  a  calm  and  steady  purpose  to 


^8f^ 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


carry  out  unflinchingly  his  "great  revenue  "     Ofh.11 

make  preparat  on  for  her  death      H„  •  ■?■     ° 

heathen  sacriflccr  th.n  an  assassin  ^.dh"""'  '"'"'  " 
con.pu„ct,on,  about  his  ITZ^' t^X^^r^Z 

Ko«^        J  V  »•"•■*.«/;  n.     with  the  same  stronir 

hands  and  remorseless  soul  stifles  the  wife  of  hk  bosom 
But  m  her  death  he  quite  as  surely  crushes  out  hTs* 
own  hopes,  and  cannot  long  survive  the  foul  deed 

thnn  T".  ^''^""°"*-  In  marrying  Othello  she  little 
thought  she  was  committing  her  all  to  a  man  who  on 
mere  suspiaon  would  not  hesitate  to  take  her  l"fe  Bu? 
ways^'ftthe:    ""  r^^ -*>  -P^eted  to  knowihe 

Tut  her  ^«f  r  'P'°P^''-  "r"«  *^*^°«^"  ^h«"o  with- 
out her  father's  consent,  she  must  now  abide  by  the 

fatal  decision.  She  is  innocent  and  lovely,  but  is  want- 
ing in  experience,  and  in  open-mindedness  Tnd  tTans- 
W  Otherr*f  ,S!;%^'^d.d--ed  her  father  I'n  mar";. 
hl^Hl      V  V'^'  ^*^  ^"""'^"^  0*^^"°  h'™«elf  about  the 

shield  her  husband  from  his  crime  by  deceitfully  de- 
cknng  she  had  done  it  herself.  But  Othello,  with  h  s 
free  and  open  nature,  as  from  the  beginning  when  he 
was  willing  to  be  found,  will  not  have  it^so,  afd  bluntly 
owns  the  deed.  Is  there  any  wonder  he 'thought  he^ 
deceiving  him  when  she  protested  her  innocence  in  the 


Othello  233 

mJ  f  ^1-  J^'"'  '"'  '"'™  of  ''"  l""!  "»t  prepared 
a^in^^thtLXSuJl  "'""''  -  '-■««""■"" 

Cim  that  .he  was^heTit  oT^h  r"  otTSlTh  wt 
no  doub  prompted  by  a  spirit  of  the  most  e,au" 
wat  the  inder  1?  'f  ""If  "<!-■  Her  self-acousa ta 
2L„  ,k"  J  \l'  '^"'"'°»  '»  •■"  husband.  RecoK- 
mmg  this,  and  other  good  traits,  critics  have  laudS 

'bleT  ShT-  ""^  r  •""  »"«•  her  "the  ZVtZ^ 

able  of  Shakespeare's  women."'     Professor   H«Iei»). 

picture,  her  as  all   but  perfect,  having  only  ^'fj 

nflmg  and  insignificant  faults,  and  no  vices,  and  ev" 

Jal'r  '"'*  *V'«^'  '."  ■""  '""  W»>»phant,"hougS 
tragic  hours.     He  speaks  of  her  "as  a  saint "  '  and 

kS^li  "°\^T°-\"^,  Othello  are  botTm^ade  ^. 
feet  in  the  act  of  death."  "  Professor  Bradley  spiaks 
m  equal  y  strong  terms  when  he  says:  "She  tenSto 
moT^  :L  ■;•  P--|'lr'""%  Pathetic,  the  swee St  and 
XJ/^  A  "'  fhakespeare's  women,  as  innocent  a, 
Miranda  and  as  loving  as  Viola,  yet  sufferinir  more 
deeply  than  Cordelia  or  Imogen."  «  u"=™g  more 

This,  however,  is  again  to  refuse  to  see  what  the 
play  Itself  presents  directly.  It  is  to  form  our  own 
opinion  of  Desdemona  without  respect  to  what  the 
play  asserts  and  without  regard  to  the  judgment  of 
fc  dramatist  as  shown  in  the  destiny  he  asiignTtoher 
Her  faults  stand  out  m  the  play  so  clearly  that  he  who 

""^"1;^"^'  ^'  ^'  "•"■  ™'^  f--»  ".ay  con-^iv! 
Kose,  quoted  In  Furness,  p.  429. 

*  Skak0»pear0,  p.  271. 
•Oo.  eit.,  p.  274. 

*  Shak^tptarem  Tragtdy,  p.  90S. 


234i 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


b>.t  on  the  other  hanTf*  t    ^.  "*"'  mentioned; 

crowd  out  of  Wew  her  mfni  ."  .."'"'""■^  *"  ''*  ""^ 
such  as  Herlud  and  S  'i  "''•  ^ome  writers, 
magnified  hHeaknet  ^"fj' ,*■-%. Pfobably  unduly 

.how  the:tra?etatrer':Vh"er^^*dTndr  """'f 
her  passion.     Her   relations   with   OtlT.ir  *  ""l* 

conditions,  and  her  chaZtL  „  "?  ""'  »'«''' 

that  would  rot  dLdain  t«    r  T      'T  ''"'""'  »»  ""-^ 
to  reward  her  fatori  J  .'""  '»«''™«  with  hin. 

of.  miliC:d~:„l  ""^h^re-S  t  llttf "'""' 

sow  the  t^s'f  tragedy     '  '"  ''"'''""''•  '"'  "^  '» 

<.<!u*  .,'""'''^  **  '*'y  '"  make  too  much   of  I,.,  r.*i 
"fibs,"  especiaUy  of  that  about  the  hTndkeri^/  ""r"! 
her  innocent  sclf-blackenin,,  „.    u   '""""'"mef.     But 
bed  was  a  kind  of  trvemt,        H  ^^  l",^"  ■*'»"- 
apologetic  for  her  LsbaS  Tnd  "dicatS^an-unc"" 

of  character  arWonriL  I    t  °"^  *•?  '^'"'  «■'»  f*" 

Lloyd  has  done  thal^th!        her  family  to  observe  as 

y     nas  done  that  the  punishment  falls  upon  her 


■ ; 


''^ /JfJ:'^^'^^'^ 


OtheUo 


236 


Lloyd    Llrts^bur  hH  '""«''*"''  "•""'ity"  «» 

interesf  in  PocoJ^  i^*         i  "usoana.      Her    continued 
inrerest  m  Cassio  betrajed  unconsciously  the  unsatls 
fied  sp^ntual  union  with  Othello.     She  thought  she  was" 
Subdued  even  to  the  very  quality"  of  hef  lord    but 
toThr^r  *^"\^""^  ^°^  ^^*^-  «-  to  b^  'Sued* 

danger    '^h^rrl^r''"'^  ™^"^t^'  ^"^  ^«  -  -"  "-t 
.r^h  ^^""^  ^°  """^J'  obstacles  to  a  natural 

and  happy  carnage  between  Othello  and  Desdemona 
that  ,t  ,s  very  doubtful  if  any  lago  was  realirnTeded 
to    foment    an   internal   conflict   sooner   or   later      It 
would  be  only  a  most  fortunate  turn  of  events  or  o 
chance  if  such  a  marriage  were  to  escape  dieter 

tail^H  T  ""i?  ""}'''  ^^^^^"^^  to  refute  lago  is  ob- 
tained after  the  deatn  of  Desdemona  prockims  ^he 
fatahsm  that  dogged  Othello's  steps.  Emilia  hTs  but 
gho'stif  sllif  'rhr^"*  *';  HaUrch^:irand\h:t 

fxplanation  of  r  F^^V'n" ^'j'^""  °^  ^^«°'  «"d  the 
explanations  of  Cassio,   fully  dissolve   the   remainino. 

evidence  into  nothing  and  convince  Othello  That  hf 
We  OthTT^^^  '"P^?-  «"^  '"  «P^te  of  his  mar- 
did^nnf  f  ^^^  "°  ''^^  ""^°"  ^^th  Desdemona,  and 
did  not  enter  m  any  way  into  the  more  intimate  l"fe 
of  her  spirit.     Othello  as  a  Moor  lived  in  rea  Tso  at  on 

tnends.  He  had  no  companions  except  his  own  under- 
officers,  and  now  even  lago  appears  as  his  friend  only 
to  serve  his   turn   upon  him.     He   was   admired   and 

Xi^rso"^''^"*  '^  *'^  ^^"^*--'  ^^  I«^o  -  "" 


836 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


III 


if' 


as  bj  Brabantio,  but  nowhprp  imo  «„    •     j 
themselves  excep    by  them  7«tM  n  T'''^  *'  °"'  »' 
OtheUo  could  Mt  »..!  r  l"^""™""*-    Hence 

refute  uJoforJ^  '"T  "*'■'"  "•»  ™dence  to 
term,  wi?h^.'„y"  ""^  '"'  "»'  <"•  »u«cie„tly  intimate 

er/oVL  l^tH:^'  Zfl  ">»*  •■"  8-f  at  his  fatal 
Td  c:-ndem„rwt:i,T;  the  responsibility  as  his  ow^^ 

seif-ioathi„Tto'X'chX  buLTi^f  "Sf ;- *■" 

shared  h^fatefbut  l^trwet^'fno'-suc'h'  *"'  '" 

?htTreatr!±'  -  *-^  "r^-^  "f  t^l^ll/rX^ 
Jireatfr  wi^Hn^^     ^  «perience,  and  presumably  the 

fo^rt-^;;  rte"tK^at;e^'te.c^^^^ 

excellent  qualities  and  his  undoubted  ievott"  to  th' 

^:i°h^TsTts;^°  srjiira  VT^^^^^^ 

thinks  of  himself:  ™  *'  ^^'■'*'^^  *«  ^^ 

Whin  «,»  „  "9'J,"'^^'  *="s«^  slave! 
waip  me,  ye  devilg, 

RW  "'•'  possession  of  this  heavenly  siRht- 
^ow  me  about  in  winds,  roast  me  in  sulnhur 
Wash  me  m  steep-down  gulfs  of  liquid  fi??' 
Oh.DesdemonlcfeadDesdemon:de2d.    OhrOhP 

(V.  ii.  8S9-S44.) 

When  it  was  all  over,  OtheUo  came  to  a  clearer  virion 
and  saw  the  elements  of  tragedy  that  h^d  e"SX' 


Othello 


iS'7 


own  conduct      HeTLd  thT'"'  f"""^"  """^  •>« 
made,  and  with  "Lhf f„«/„^Lr'f  r*'™  »«"'  «« 
to  think  undul,  hard  oAi./fo'i^ltd  I^ealr^m""* 
iiru  **'  P™y  yo"  in  your  letters 

tkL         i^^"*  '^""'"  '"  malice. 
Ihen  must  you  speak. 

Of  one  that  lov'd  not  wisely,  but  too  well- 

(V.  ii.  413-420.) 
This  should  rid  even  the  hftr«>io=+  «,;*.•      t 
condemnation,    and  ts^af  tr   Xtte  "f^H 
measure  of  sympathy  and  pity.     We  rlecf  h-  .H 


vm 

The  "moral"  of  Cinthio's  novel  cannot  be  tak    ,  nff 
hand  as  the  moral  of  Shakespeare's  plav     Tho  H  ' 
ist  had  a  way  of  infusing  his'own  draSc  purpose'^o" 
s  ones  already  devoted  to  a  quite  different  S      Ma„v 
differences  are  to   be  noticed  between  the  nove    and 

tt  ^J'^;  ^."r*^'  '°'"""^^'  I^-«d«^n^ona  meets  death  at 
the  hand  of  lago,  by  arrangement  with  Othello  -a 
more    gruesome    and    more    unlikely    fate    than    ;h«f 

alTin'/  f  tr--  If  DesdeLn:*Is  to  I"  k  L' 
at  all  and  by  the  conventions  of  the  tragedy  of  the 
day  this  seems  inevitable,  then  it  should^l^-^  by  the 


S88 


I 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


accordingly  gives  this   hol^ib    "task  "her  7"k  "".' 

not  plan  the  hai-m  nf  L  a  criminal,  for  he  did 

nizcd  crime      nAr/  ?  '°v  *  Sf^"'  «"<*  "•'"Off- 

custom  of  the  state      If  th„  •  ^^^'^  *"^  *^^ 

it  was  he  that  mat    -such,  and  KoTd  ^'^^  '  '^'"^^ 
of  the  wrong  upon  himsdf      Th?^'^-^- ^^"^  ^^'"^^'' 

The  dramatist  makes  Cassio,  the  iraocent  object  of 


f  '>^-«WJIF^ 


Othello 


«39 


«over„^;.hT;^  He  'hat  Jh"r  ^^  .TT"   *°  ^"^ 
hut  at  „„  Le  «"'te^rw^t^„f  ,T^' 

not  wSr""''  '■i'''""^  ""•"«'•»  h"  intrigues  were 

;;ys  w:tir„tii:^tir:^^^^^^^^^^^  - 

speare,  it  was  a  tragedy  of  character.^  lL  that   'f 
Romeo  and  Juliet  the  new  marriage  was  su^ect  from 

Juliet"  taC  ir*rf  ^^"^*'  ""^"^'^^  R--  and 
Juliet   It   a  so  had    from   the   outset   a   deep  internRi 

dissension  that  finally  was  the  cause  of  its  dlru^ 
The  sweet  and  pure  love  of  Romeo  and  Juliet  could 
rise  above  the  rivalry  of  their  contending  houses  and 
in  the  end  managed  to  resolve  the  age-fong  coXt 
But  the  essential  conflict  of  Othello  Ind  Desdemona 
v^as  emphasized  by  every  difficulty  in  their  hves,  a^d 
the  tragic  end  points  the  moral  of  the  danger  of  such 
incongruous  marriages.  *^  "*^" 


:^i----..     '^-.V^^-il.^L 


S40 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


lago  is  therefore  not  the  cause  of  the  trairedv.  which 
hes  deeper  in  the  unnatural  union  of  two  sfch^daW 
spnts  as  Othello  and  Desdemona.  The  theme  of  the 
play  IS  not  the  manner  in  which  the  happiness  of  a 
newly-wedded  pair  can  be  destroyed  by  intri^e  and 
hes  but  the  subject  of  the  play  is  the  vain  att^pt  of 
a  Moor  noble  but  barbaric,  to  live  the  life  of  a  Venetian, 
a  the  husband  of  a  Venetian  maid.  His  marriage 
with  Desdemona  is  the  occasion  of  difficulty  with  one  of 
his  subordinate  ofi.cers,  and  this  in  turn  reacts  upon 
his    married    relationships    and    destroys    him.     The 

Wrn'  ^AA^'^^TM  ^^/^  ^'  ^^^  essentially  uncivilized. 
Surrounded  by  all  the  forms  and  institutions  of  culture 
he  remained  barbaric.  In  the  midst  of  the  highest 
civilization  he  retained  the  rude  instincts  of  his  fathers. 
Possessed  of  the  highest  intellectual  training  that  the 
military  life  could  give  he  was  yet  ungoverned  by 
reason  but  by  passion.  Othello  had  enjoyed  the  ad- 
vantages of  Venice,  but  he  had  not  attained  to  its  level 
of  civilization.  He  had  acquired  the  forms  but  had  not 
achieved  the  moral  standards  of  Venetian  culture. 

bhakes^^eare  is  evidently  trying  to  show  that  civai- 
zation  at  bottom  consists  of  moral  culture.  OtheUo 
had  intellectual  abUity,  he  had  acquaintance  with  the 
Ideals  of  civihzation,  and  yet  he  remained  at  heart  a 
barbarian.  He  had  not  developed  the  high  sense  of 
honor  and  right  that  constitutes  true  culture.  He 
was  lacking  in  the  moral  sense  that  alone  distinguishes 
barbarism  and  civilization.  His  honor  had  not  kept 
pace  with  his  culture,  and  his  moral  nature  had  not 
been  trained  as  much  as  his  mind.  Lacking  the  civilized 
moral  nature  the  instruments  of  culture  and  the  oppor- 
tunities of  Venice  became  for  him  only  the  means  of 
his  own  destruction. 


OtheUo 


241 


This  is  the  character  of  some  of  the  creat  trairp^.p- 

highest  education,  does  not  make  either  a  man  or  a 
nation  cmhzed.     A  culture  that  has  no  moTal  basis 

nzatfn  "f  n"  '"^"^^t-I  attainments,  is  not  true  civ -' 
Iization  at  all      An  unmoral  civilization  is  only  barbar 

r^L*^^^"  u  °*  ^y'"«  "°''«^  discernment,  it  does  not 
recognize  ats  own  brutality,  but  like  Othello  Ws  of 
ts  superior  nature.     Othello  had  acquired  enough  VenL 

htrH  Tr:  !i°  ^^"'^"^  '^'  ^^«»^-*  honor  of  thofeaW 
him,  but  had  not  attained  the  moral  character  th^t 
would  extend  the  same  honor  to  them.     T^ugh  Up 
tized  he  had  not  acquired  the  Christian  moraWirtues 
and   the   grace   of  giving  only  what   he  would    take 

There  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  the 

of  fr  i,-^  "*  ''  ""***^^  *°  ^*'  "P  "nd"  the  weight 
of  the  higher  requirements  of  life  in  his  adopted  X 

fnd  it  wSrf  L"^*^*u''^™  ^'^  ^°"-  Moorish  natu«; 
and  It  wiU  not  bear  the  strain.  He  has  attained  the 
inteUectual  but  has   failed  to  acquire  the  moral  ele! 

stroy  h,m.  Under  the  weight  of  cultivated  life,  two 
classes  of  persons  inevitably  fail;  those  of  a  lower  type 
and  the  de7  '^'"^'tl'  ^''^  *'^  instruments  of  cultur^e 

class  Shfker  ?'  '""'^  '^P^  ^^°  '''  *he  crimina 
class.  Shakespeare  has  many  studies  of  persons  of  the 
latter  class,  but  only  one  of  the  former,  naLly,  OtheUo! 


iTT- 


24S 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


Ji 


v\^  ,  ^  "°  V""^^  "'"•  Shakespeare  about  hi. 

uHf  C"'  '""'""^^-  '"  *'>^'  ''-y"  °f  "»  "Pining 
up  of  the  new  world,  and  of  the  di.covery  of  new 
People.  ,„  the  old,  the  European  nowhere  found  evWen,^ 
of  Mj  race  the  equal  of  thee  on  hi,  own  continent 
Shakespeare  hin,.elf  probably  had  little  or  no  acquaint: 
.nee  w,th  non-European  races,  but  drew  hi,  conclusion, 
about  race  .nfer  ority  from  what  we  might  now  regard 

wU  relnfrrm*""-  •  ''"""'!!-'  -«pt  for  tTo^ 
wno  reason  from  a  pnon  grounds,  the  world  is  stJll 

doctrine  of  equahty  seems  a  splendid  and  noble  thino- 
provided  your  daughter  is  already  safely  married  t^ 
tTa'tliC;/"?  '*^\  ^*  -  quite'^possible,  ofTole! 
is  aLn^  '  r  u  "*  I""^"  inequality,  but  difference 
IS  almost  as  much  a  barrier  to  a  happy  marriage.  For 
the  interpretation  of  the  drama,  at  any  rate,  we  must 

hat    Of^T"'.*'?!  ^'l  ^^^^  ^"*^  P^"^it  hi™  to  iWer 
that    Othello's    fatal    shortcomings    are    due    to     his 

Uroth^r"'  •  r.t'^P^J'*'  '^  ^"^^^  ^-'^^  -  Mauri! 
tania  Othello  might  have  been  not  only  a  great  general 

but  a  happy  and  unsuspicious  husband.     But  in^VenTco 
he  met  only  disaster.  ^ 

In  every  way  Shakespeare  has  greatly  enlarged  the 
ksrn"S,°/n  "i^"'^  "^"^^-     The%omance  dra^s  the 

not  to  wed  a  man  whom  nature  and  habitude  of  life 
estrange  from  us."  ^  Quite  different  is  the  dramatists 
meaning.  Shakespeare's  larger  theme  is  not  X  ill 
assorted  marriage  of  Othello  and  Desdemona,  but  the 
sad  career  of  the  Moor,  Othello,  as  an  ill-adjusted 
citizen  of  Venice,  who  because  of  his  inferior  nature 
gets  into  fatal  difficulties  with  his  Venetian  subordh^aL 
'Eng.  trans,  in  Fumess,  p.  384. 


Othello 


HM 


t.on8  of  his  adopted  life  in  Venice,  and  espSly  of 
wa«™wXed  •'  '!i:  'T^*  °'  V-^tianTSens^  he 

the  stS     Hi^'V  K  '.^*''™''"  '^"^  «»^«  ^^y  under 
rne  strain.     His  barbaric  passion  overcame  him    and 

unable   to    recover   himself,   he   went   fo^ard    ti   h"a 

wife's  and  his  own  destruction.     His  primi^ve  sp  ritua 

tTon^^Hf;  r]  ''^Tl  *°  *'^  ^'^^  «^  *^«  highest  cMza 
tion.     His  rude  nobleness  could  not  meet  the  demands 

of  a  finer  moral  culture,  and  he  went  down  to  defeat 

But  we  do  not  condemn  him,  for  his  motL  was  not 

Ottll  T.'^  P^'^  ^J™'  ""'^  ^^^P  °^^'  *»»-  fate  of  both 
Othello  and  his  Venetian  bride. 


a'- 


i'^! 


if.  c^- 


'1^* 


r  ■".ri 


.kT   : 


4i:  :^ 


KING  LEAR: 

A   TBAOKSr   OF   OKSPOTISX 


3k 
si-' 


-J 


r'*?f^^?i7- 


4 


CHAPTER    V 
KING  LEAR: 

A   TEAGEDY    OF   DESPOTISM 


«™  „r*l,      1        "  *''■''  """"  '''^finite  apprecia- 

other  "fTheTre/tlvrntlrj"'  °'  ""  P'"'  """  '"^ 
X  lilt  great  plays  of  Shakespeare.    As  a  wnrlr  «r 

pa8..on,  the  play  has  been  accorded  unstinted  d^!L 
The  tremendous  passions  of  the  various  M™n?^n!l" 
the,r  ungoverned  indulgence,  have  Ze^T^h^^^ 
strength  to  the  dr«„a  that  ^11  have  Sy  felt "  d 
irfL"  The''""  '*'■'  ™"."'"  ■*  "ProduZl  by  any 
5^::ti,t^t%rclTtr"urro;'''l!  ^'P-yed  b^  tSJ 

poitrayai   of    the   passions,    rather   than   ♦»,« 

the  other  appear  ,„„re  dramatically  real. 

1M7 


248 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


m  9 


Rl,?t  .      '  "?*  ^^°  '"^^  unanimity  concerning 

Shakespeare's   conduct   of   the   narrative.     Beginnini 
with  Doctor  Johnson,  there  has  been  a  strong  inclina- 

ir^Tv.  -""^/^  !^*''  "  ^^^  ^*«^  ""'^^  other  plays,  to 
doubt  the  instinct  and  judgment  of  the  dramatist  in 
the  treatment  of  the  characters  in  relation  to  the  plot. 
The  changes  made  by  Shakespeare  in  the  story,  these 
cntics  thmk,  are  a  serious  departure  from  the  usual 
good  dramatic  judgment  of  the  author.  The  altera- 
tion he  made  in  the  story  of  Cordelia,  giving  her  a 
tragic  ending,  they  think,  is  a  lapse  from  the  justice 
and  appropriateness  that  ordinarily  mark  his  moral 
judgment.  For  almost  two  centuries,  therefore,  Shake- 
speare s  conclusion  to  the  story  was  repudiated,  and 
other  versions  substituted  by  all  great  actors.  It  is 
only  quite  recently  that  in  this  and  in  other  matters 
public  opimon  has  come  round  to  the  dramatist's  ver- 
dict, and  restored  the  true  Shakespearean  versions, 
though  stJl  not  without  the  misgivings  of  many. 

There  has  been  little  question,  however,  about  the 
dramatic  relations  of  the  various  persons  to  one  an- 
other, though  the  theme  of  the  play,  or  the  meaning  of 
the   story  as   a   whole,   has   often   been   misconceived. 
l!.verybody  understands  the  relations  that  exist  between 
Lear  and  his  daughters,  but  a  mistake  is  frequently 
naade  in  thinking  that  the  theme  is  the  ingratitude  of 
the  daughters,  and   the   consequent  suffering  on   the 
part  of  their  father.     We  are  only  beginning,  however, 
to  display  a  confidence  in  Shakespeare,  and  to  take  his 
statements  on  such  matters  as  all  but  final.     In  all  the 
various  editions  for  which  he  can  in  any  way  be  re- 
^onsible  the  play  is   named  after  the  king  himself. 
The  story  is  primarily  the  story  of  King  Lear,  and  only 
madentally  the  story  of  the  daughters.     The  quartos 


il^^i 


King  Lear  ^^g 

and  to  emX  L  t  ptt"":'"  W  h''°  f ''»V''"' 

It,  cannot  really  interfere  .itfc Tl,.     '?'""'>««*  upon 
or  weaken  ita  /neral  eff^t      "^  ""  """'^  "'  "»  "'>»'' 

The  discussion  of  the  double  sfni-^  i,       i         . 
carried  on,  but  no  better  defpnl  V     ^u.  *'  *°"«  *»^° 

usual  and  unnatural      ««H.,f  f»  l  "^  V      ^*"  ""' 

an,p,e,  taking  pl^^r'at  th^etrtirlrrapl"- 
ance  of  a  great  commotion  in  the  moral  -Lu"^.!. 
picture  become,  gigantic  and  fill!  «.  ""^rh  ^h  If 


l'  Xi 


I 


250 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


as  we  should  entertain  at  the  idea  that  the  heavenly 

S,'-?''^.  T.  ^"^  ^"  ^™"^  **^"'  appointed 
orbits.  It  would  seem  that  in  iTm^  L^ar  the  drama- 
tist was  not  only  working  out  his  views  of  individual 
human  life,  but  that  now  at  last  he  was  definitely 
working  on  a  world  view*  and  had  passed  from  the 
individual  to  the  universal  order. 

With  this  in  mind,  it  would  seem  to  be  a  great  mis- 
Ik  !  :l  '*"«".  0""elves,  as  some  do,  to  the  conception 
that  the  play  is  an  enigma,  and  that  it  is  impossiWe  to 
justify  the  dramatist  in  his  modifications  of  the  origi- 
nal plot.  Many  critics  do  not  believe  the  play  is  or  is 
intended  to  be  a  solution  of  the  problem  presented, 
but  are  content,  with  Professor  Dowden,  to  speak  of 
the  moral  mystery,, the  grand  inexplicableness  of  the 
play.   ^     The  same  writer  consoles  himself  in  this  atti- 

:nTv?  ^^  **^'"«  '"  ^^^  ™*"n«r  of  a  realist  that 

It  life  proposes  inexplicable  riddles,  Shakespeare's  art 
must  propose  them  also."  * 

But  a  mere  portrayer  of  human  life  as  he  sees  it, 
Shakespeare  refuses  to  be.  His  grasp  of  life's  prob- 
lems IS  too  firm,  and  his  insight  too  clear,  to  let  his 
readers  long  think  that  he  regarded  life  as  a  riddle. 
l.ife  did  not  seem  an  enigma  to  the  men  of  his  genera- 
tion In  those  "spacious  times,"  with  curious  and 
wonderful  new  worlds  opening  continually  to  their 
astonished  minds,  life  may  have  been  a  task,  but  it  was 

a^LV'  «•  •^"  **:?'"  ^*^''  P°^*^  ^"^  philosophers 
alike  were  offering  all  sorts  of  solutions  of  life  and  its 

problems,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  Shakespeare  stood 
apart  from  his  age.  It  may  or  may  not  be  that  the 
p.  411."*"*"**   '^   ^'•«»»«<fc   AH   and  Literature,   EngUsh   trans., 

'*?ifTZ~^  Jfind  and  Art.  p.  265,  ISth  edition. 
i/p.  ett.  p.  Hoo. 


i.  ■#■  '.-^   V» 


^ing  Lear 


251 


mere  statement  of  the^^^^ol!;;;  """  "  """'  *•■"■  » 


The  play  is   clearly  Lear's   storv       I*    k.     u 
thought  by  some  that  tl,,.  ri        '™y-      '*   has   been 
thread    „/  thTdrama        ^^""f  ^ft-o-y  i»  the  first 
than  Lear  partieS  d  in  t"*     <^'""''"*"   "ther 
it  is  Lear  tLt  is  ^htfubje.^^^  J^  wTat": 

^  4iTr«ro  r^- /t€ 

kino.  f«  „  "Pon,  ana  all  that  remains  is  for  the 
king  to  announce  its  actual  accomplishment  Rnf 
Kent  '^^P^^^P-PO-  dark,  and  no  onT tt  eve^ 

Kent,  can  tell  what  principle  shall  irovera  t  Z 
division  It  is  suspected,  however,  by  £cTster  that 
Lear  will  be  influenced  by  the  affecLn  he le"  h^* 
.several  daughters  and  their  husbands.  ^'" 

As  soon  as  he  enters  Lear  proceeds  to  unfold  hi, 
darker  purpose"  that  he  has  not  yet  made  known 
All  three  daughters,  it  is   likely,   have  known  of  h?.' 
intention,  and  eagerly  awaited  the  division      Callin .J 

nto  three  parts    but  that  he  has  not  yet  determined 
to  which  of  h,s  daughters  to  give  each  part      Annar 
ently  he  has  not  made  an  equ!l  divisionrthouiTm 

'^S„-.tU^f  ^''^"^^  ""^  ^«--"  ^'  -^  ^  infers 


S62 


Hamlet^  an  Ideal  Prince 


!!i 


that  two  of  the  parts  are  substantially  equal.  This  is 
later  made  clear  when  he  tells  Regan  her  portion  is 

"Ji?  ^*^  ^°  "P»<*'  validity,  aad  pleasure. 
ThM  that  conferr'd  on  Goneril.^ 

(I.  I.  80-1.) 

But  the  third  division  reserved  for  Cordelia  was  "more 
opulent"  than  that  given  to  her  two  sisters.  Thus 
would  he  show  his  preference  for  Cordelia.  The  other 
two  had  long  been  aware  of  his  partiality,  as  Goneril 
later  reminds  Regan,  "He  always  loved  our  sister  most." 

Lear's  division  of  the  kingdom  is  generally  considered 
a  mere  whim,  and  evidence  of  his  fantastic  character.  * 
Such  a  policy  of  favoritism  could  result  only  in  jeal- 
ousy and  strife,  and  in  a  primitive  state  of  society 
possibly  in  civil  or  tribal  war.  Even  if  the  principle 
of  division  had  been  good,  the  scheme  itself  was  bad, 
and  with  two  such  queens  as  Goneril  and  Regan,  there 
would  surely  have  been  trouble.  But  with  his  foolish 
plan  for  the  division,  the  fiercest  kind  of  conflict  was 
altogether  likely. 

Though  Lear  would  seem  to  divide  the  realm  accord- 
ing to  the  love  his  several  daughters  had  for  him,  his 
real  intention  was  to  make  the  largest  gift  to  Cordelia, 
whom  he  thought  loved  him  most,  and  from  whom  he 
expected  the  greatest  returns  of  gratitude.     He  ex- 
pected, of  course,  that  she  would  prove  the  one  who 
loved  him  most.     There  was  but  slight  desire  on  his 
part  to  abnegate  himself,  but  he  had  instead  a  strong 
though  unconscious  desire  to  exalt  himself  in  the  act  of 
parting  with  his  kingdom.     He  kept  as  we  say  a  string 
to  his  kingdom,  and  while  seeming  to  part  with  it, 
would  make  it  more  truly  than  ever  his  own,  by  atUch- 
*C/.  Fram  Horn,  Funiess's  Variorum  Kimg  Itar,  pp.  i51-i. 


King  Lear  oka 

completely  eeo-centric  th.„  1  *"'  """W  ■»»« 

most  „puLt^;;t"X  ,„",.!  ■  '"''  7"'''  K*"  "« 
to  him  TheiHove  not  hi  °"!  '?"P''*''y  ''»™t«l 
their  inheriUnce    and  tV  •  '  l""  '/  "*  ">«  ■»"""«  »' 

would  be  hi  St  g^.'t„'[ee7f  "t-'"'J"  'S""*"" 
greater  deference.'    *^    '"'*'  "'  continued  and  even 

.nJi:„er,it7''a*r;om:'  ;"•'""•*  '""^  "-^  "r^"'-" 

but  wa,  not  his  8trS«,t  1^^!  v/"^'''""  ""  '»««. 
ever,  conscious  of  anv^jL""'!!--     "%*»»  »»*.  how- 

-If  solely  with  gcn:ro:;tyrru;h'rthe'tt^''r 
velops  we  can  se.»  fhof  k;        "'""ft"  as  tJie  action  de- 

queens  of  Britain    anH  hv  +k:  .  .     '  *"®  *^"e 

mercy  would  he":Lt"hron^^  iL  rhrrts'"./'^'  "^j 
be  more  secure  than  any  other  form  "f  Vw.^**'  ""* 

-o^^ch^^h'is'^'r^;!- -  ip  •'«<•'- 

sovereignty  with  their  W^S'  In X  ?'  ""."A'  »' 
Elizabeth,  and  stiU  morrTii,  ™/»y"  »'  Queen 
when  the  play  was  wrto?n  \f'^\?'  ^"°*'  **"  *•'"* 

a  very  live  qultio?     Sh-J       *  *'  ?'  "»«'«'«"•  was 
J'  live  question,     bhakespeare,  interc«l»H  ;-  .k 

moral  and  sp.itual  life  of  individiairh^^Xtt 


li-u 


.■JKLSfe'' 


f 


S54 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


studied  this  problem  of  tyiuniiy  very  carefully.  The 
effects  of  absolutism  on  the  political  and  even  spiritual 
life  of  the  people  were  well  known,  but  no  one  before 
had  attempted  to  depict  its  dire  influence  upon  the 
king  himself.  In  King  Lear  the  dramatist  undertakes 
to  portray  the  blighting  effects  of  absolutism  on  the 
spirit  of  the  monarch,  and  to  show  that  the  other 
evils  grow  from  this.  It  is  not  the  subjects  of  despots 
who  suffer  most,  but  the  despots  themselves.  No  per- 
son can  enslave  another  without  subjecting  himself  to 
a  worse  bondage.  Slaves  are  less  injured  by  slavery 
than  are  the  masters. 

Shakespeare  had  given  much  thought  to  the  question 
of  kings.     In  the  plays  based  on  English  history  he 
had  depicted   kings   good   and   bad,  and   had   shown 
something  of  his  conception  of  the  true  king  in  Henry 
the  Fifth,  the  last  of  the  series.     Then  when  he  came 
to  the  period  of  his  greatest  tragedies,  he  again  dealt 
with  the  problem  of  monarchy.     In  Jtdiiu  Casar  he 
had  shown  the  danger  of  ambition  for  power,  and  ij 
Macbeth,  generally  considered  earlier  than  King  Lear, 
had  shown  how  utterly  debasing  an  unscrupulous  desire 
for  kingship  may  become.     Now  in  King  Lear  he  takes 
up  the  legendary  story  of  Lear  and  exhibits  what  Snider 
has  well  called  "the  disease  of  absolute  authority."  ' 
Shakespeare  pictures  King  Lear,  under  the  fawning 
obedience  and  flattery  of  his  subjects  and  his  family, 
as  developing  an  almost  infinitely  exa.Tgerated  concep- 
tion of  himself,  and  as  finally  going  to  pieces  on  this 
submerged  rock  of  egoism. 

It  is  not  sufficient  explanation  of  the  improbable  and 
exaggerated  conditions  depicted  in  King  Lear  to  say 
that  Shakespeare  rt- .ers  them  to  the  barbarous  times 
*0p.  cU.,  p.  155. 


■  '^\. . 


^*ng  Lear  ^^^ 

Po'ing  that  becaZ  SI.A  ^  ""^  '"""  '»  '"P" 

that  because  he  belong,  t„  ?i  >''\«'»  P«rticulap; 
.peeial  time.  But  thfre  ^e^"  t"  ""^  T'^  '"  "" 
man  who  never,  probablv  n.^r  I  j"°  V"  ">»'  ">» 
wrote  with  hi,'  e^e  pSicuVa  V  "*  T  ""  *•"  ''"°""' 
country.  Thougrhf  draw 'hi  .?"•'''' ,""'"  *««  "^ 
Shakespeare,  nof  havinttL  hi'jo  W  i'T..'^  '^'' 
'.  ...IKT,  write,  .trictly  (Vul  co'   erpVrarie,^  ""''' 

,et^cru  its  7r^it^-^y  - 

light  of  hi,  own  age  Even  ,7  th.  J"'''''?'"*  "  "" 
the  historic  sen.e.  t1,ere  IZ  eLuse  fo'rT'j'*  ,*V«'' 
age  to  ignore  history,  but  allthe  Lorrre^s™  to°'v-" 
Shakespeare  as  an  Elizaheth.n  iV  -1  "  "" 
ignored,  as  was  ineviTabie    tt   •  '".  "*"""«    ^ 

of  the  outer  difflre„«s  ttweenT'  ""''  "^  """'y 
«p».  that  we  must  res^cX  eare/^t  "■"  '"IL"- 
that  Shakespeare  was  an  EIizaSha„  1^^  'JTt' 
'uch  plays  cannot  be  e:.plai„ed,  thereforl^  ,!l'"!'" 
then,    o  the  barbarism  of  earl  er  t'mV,      sLl  * 

was  giving  us  a  picture  of  E  "aSin  „®'"'!'"P"!« 
tensified  for  purposes  of  If.Tj  f  ?  passions,  in- 
Celtic  environS  The  outef '  foTm/^'T'l!^  ■"  * 
to  a  legendary  period,  and  thes^no °™th  tTjj h^  °°?1 
accuracy;  but  the  problem  oPthe  X  ^s  J^e?' 
m  Shakespeare's  day,  and  for  fl..*  £  Z  modern 
modern.  AbsolutismVs  by  no  meanTd'"  "  '"!.' 
even  ft„„  communities  avoJedl;  2ZrtS:^Zt 
Lf.  £>nider,  op.  dt.,  p.  199.  *   *""   *■ 


S.56 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


I 


i 
I 


the  «pecial  vice  of  certain  modern  institutions      And 
no  one  was   better  able   than  Shakespeare  to  dep^c 
the  evils  attendant  upon  tyranny  »  ^ 

tioln"//- ^^^  "^ii"*  °'  **^"  ^^'P°*'  Lear  ha.  no  inten- 

CJom'ta\"'''t  *"^ur*^  P"''^'  •"  transferring  his 

kingdom    to    his    daughters.     Coleridge    has    noticed 

Lear's  moral  incapability  of  resigning  the  soveS 

power  ,n  the  very  act  of  disposing  of  it."  »    K^W 

that  the  tired  old  k.ng  wishes  to  be  rid  of.  That  hil 
regal  rights  can  suffer  changes,  never  occurs  to  him."  • 
Snider  says :  "Tired  of  the  cares  of  government,  5^^001 

resign_the  reahty  of  power  and  yet  retain  its  appear^ 

tr^Ve^ofki^X^^'  ^'  '''  "^  '-^  '-'^^ 

dispute   *  Th/^in't""  **~"u  ^'"  *^^"  ^»"  »>«  little 
dwpute      The  old  king  makes  only  a  show  of  self- 
abnegation.     In  the  very  act  of  giving  away  he  makes 
new  and  greater  demands  than  ever.  *  He  Les "  wLv 
on^  the  burdens  and  not  the  prerogativrof  Jbi 
Jhip,  yet  wishes  his  act  to  be  thought  magnanimiuT 
He  transfers   the   duUes  but  not  the  rights   of  sov^ 
ereignty    yet  desires  to  be  considered  geferous      hL 
love  for  his  daughters  has  none  of  the  marks  of  safri^ 
fice,  but  demands  a  more  complete  sacrifice  and  sub- 
jection  on  their  part.»    This  it  is  important  to  nott 
if  we  are  to  understand  the  development  of  the  play, 
for  It  IS  on  this  pseudo-sacrifice  that  the  plot  ulti- 
mately  turns.  '^ 

*  Cf.  Snider,  op.  eit.  p.  158. 
'Op.  eit.  pp.  S34-6. 

■English  trans,  in  Fumess,  p.  461. 

*  Op.  eit.,  p.  1«.  ^ 
■  Of.  Snider,  op.  eit.  p.  157. 


J^ing  Lear  ,g^ 

over  hi.  dominion  and  otr  hia  "flT*'^K  "r'^^'f"*^ 
Pleteljr  lost  .overeignty  ove'  hLlir'^^-x*^'^  ^^l^  <^»"- 
h«  caprice  have  utterly  uLr^^ll  ^^"  ''^""»  ""^ 
nient  in  hi.  bosom,  and  he  K.*^'  T  °'  «°^^™- 
even  the  .lave  of  unrea.onin;  tsXn  h"'"'^",*/"^ 
lon^r  see  himself  as  ono  «««„  P*""'®"'.  ^e  could  no 
himself  as   the  absolntT  5  ™''"^'  "^"^  'bought  of 

rights  of  other  ptson     '1?is  „T**"«  ^"^'^^^^   ^^e 
flattered,  had  «-ow„  to  *«r  "«*'^^  canity,  .o  long 

had  incIpacitfLd  him  VT'T'"'  P*""'°"'  "^ 
him.elf.     Hence  even  tL  -       considennfl;   anyone   but 

kinship  was  but  a  di.«^?Sr "//'"r"'«*'°"  °^  *^^ 
greater  power.  Hi*  dtSX  ^  ^'^^t  *°  ^?"  .'*'" 
womanhood  and  in  marrX  K 'i  .'f'°'''"«  ^»*o 

partly  from  his  con"rorwouId  K  "Tk-"'"^"'^^  P*"«J 
be  brought  within  his  pow^^  H^^  ^^''  "'^  T'  "^'>« 
of^his  hold  on  them  ^'J'^T;^^^ 


m 


by  Lear  to  afford  CorfrfU  *"'''  """Myed 

the  mo.t  opulent  Third  of  th/'l"i,  '"''  """  »'" 
«ttention  to  the  fact  tha?  I  ^'YV"'  ^'  <=»"» 
prearranged  when  he  first  .n„"  """^  "'^  '"'"■"■''»  «« 
that  he  had  planned  to  Steffllr   'l";'  P''^'  "^ 

w'^^'rdih^iSr^^^^^^^  ~-o 


S58 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


•urpais  her  siaten  in  her  declaration.*  To  this  whim, 
then,  Lear  would  add  favoritism,  making  his  division 
of  the  kingdom  doubly  culpable  and  dangerous.  Ulrict 
thought  Lear*8  motive  in  the  whole  affair  was  to  con- 
vince himself  by  the  daughters*  public  avowal  of  love 
that  he  could  abdicate  without  danger  to  himself.* 
Professor  Bradley,  however,  suggests  that  Lear's  plan 
was  not  so  inherently  foolish  as  has  been  thought.  He 
is  the  first,  it  seems,  to  observe  that  it  was  not  part  of 
Lear's  intention  to  live  alternately  with  his  three  daugh- 
ters, but  only  with  his  favorite,  Cordelia : 

••I  loved  her  roost,  and  thought  to  set  my  rest 
On  her  kind  nursery." 

(I.  i.  IM-S.) 

If  this  plan  had  been  carried  out,  says  Professor 
Bradley,  "it  would  have  had  no  such  consequences  as 
followed  its  alteration."  ^  But  it  was  its  inherent  bad 
qualities  that  prevented  its  success.  No  amount  of 
wisdom  on  the  part  of  Cordelia  would  have  made 
Lear's  foolish  plan  wise,  but  it  might  have  discounted 
some  of  its  folly,  and  rendered  it  less  harmful.  This 
is  her  condemnation,  that  she  did  not  prevent  her 
father's  folly,  when  it  was  plainly  her  duty  to  accom- 
modate herself  to  the  whims  of  his  old  age. 

The  fatal  error  of  Lear,  apart  from  the  inherent 
fatality  of  the  original  scheme,  was  to  make  the  declara- 
tions of  love  an  open  trial.  This  gave  a  false  advan- 
tage to  the  untrue  but  outspoken  Goneril  and  Regan, 
and  called  upon  the  true  love  of  Cordelia  to  take  the 
form  of  adulation  and  flattery — a  position  always  dis- 

*Cf.  Perrett,  Story  of  Lear  from  Monmouth  to  8hak«aptar«. 
Reviewed  in  Mod4m  Language  Review,  October,  1905.    Cf.  p.  71. 
*Cf.  English  trans,  in  Fumess,  p.  9. 
*  B\dk»tf9ar»an  Tragedy,  p.  950. 


King  Lear  ^59 

liked  by  virtue.     But  it  was  all  in  keeping  with  the  falte 

mT;  ;%:  i"Mr'  '"^^  ^-'-ed'toiiv;  a„d'thriv' 

Dctter  on  falsehood  than  on  truth.  Flattery,  not  true 
afFection,  was  that  which  his  soul  craved  Thi.  U 
peculiarly  the  vice  of  rulers.  "   " 

Lear  accepts   and    seems   satisfied    with   the   emntv 
protestations  of  the  t«o  older  daughter^    .    H s  pba^^J 
w^h  their  empty  words.     Which  sho.].     ..;,Ur^lw 
hun  most  dejxnded  on  which  should  .,,0..  l"     F     U 
was  ready  to  outdo  the  other  in  A.-.f' ....     nJth  ..; 
ambitious  and  unscrupulous,  and  '  >id  ku  ..J  the  U 
guage  of  enipty  adulation  in  mal.  t  u.  .„,.  ca  .  hT/.^,. 
t.on«  with  their  father.     Neither  .alh    U..        "      J.; 
in  LTto"    -^  '°  exhaust  the  .../,,:,.  ,4  .,^^,:^ 
m  order  to  gam  an  enlarged  inheiic-  u.         No  »vtler 
evidence  could  be  given  of  the  false  life-  ..-  v.^,  .  !  ^ 
flattery  that  Lear  had  cultivated  than  ti  ti  ^d    ^J 

his  daughters  toward  him.  Children  naturally  have  a 
true  love  for  their  parents,  but  when  fathers  eat  sour 
grapes  their  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge 

To  explain   the   conduct   of  the  daughters   is    not 
however    to  excuse  it.     It  is  always   thf  privilege  of 

tnem  Hi.  Shakespeare  never  makes  any  persons  tho 
mere  creatures  of  heredity,  and  even  mode^rnSce  now 
pays  less  deference  to  this  doctrine  than  formerly  T 
a   dramatist    Shakespeare    probably   had    no     heor^. 

Ins  belief  that  children  are  not  necessarily  of  the  same 
character  as  their  parents.  With  this  conception  he 
holds  Goneril  and  Regan  strictly  to  account  for  their 
deeds,  and  before  the  inexorable  law  of  poetic  justfee 
does  not  permit  them  to  plead  that  they  are  but  daugj! 
ters  of  their  father.     Like  nature  herself,  Shakes^re 


* 


I?' 


4 


mo 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


does  not  inquire  whence  evil  comes,  but  merely  leU  it 
take  Its  course  wherever  found.  The  unrelenting  hand 
of  condemnation  rests  upon  the  two  sisters  from  the 
moment  they  despise  their  father's  weakness  and  scorn 
nis  senile  infirmities. 

Their  hypocrisy,  unobserved  by  Lear  in  his  vanity, 
IS  immediately  noticed  by  Cordelia.  Unlike  her  sisters, 
the  youngest  daughter  is  nothing  if  not  open  and 
frank.  Lear  has  entertained  for  her  a  warmer  regard 
than  for  the  others,  and  quite  naturally  expects  this 
to  be  reciprocated.  Faithlessness  on  the  part  of  her 
sisters  increased  rather  than  lessened  her  obligation  to 
her  father.  Duties  to  others  have  some  sort  of  rela- 
tion to  their  needs,  and  Lear  was  never  so  much  in  need 
of  a  faithful  and  tactful  daughter  as  when  Goneril  and 
Regan  vied  with  each  other  in  flatterv,  attempting  to 
wheedle  the  largest  inheritance  from  their  father. 

Cordelia  seems,  however,  to  have  more  scorn  for  her 
sisters  than  love  for  her  father.  Her  chief  quality  was 
haughtiness  or  pride,  and  this  was  allowed  to  crush  out 
the  virtue  of  compassion.  Poor  Lear!  The  only 
daughter  who  did  love  him  was  so  rigid  in  her  adherence 
to  truth  that  she  would  not  unbend  to  save  him.  She 
would  rather  lose  her  father's  "liking"  than  have  the 
"still-soliciting  eye,"  and  the  flattering  tongue  of  her 
sistei-s.  (I.  i.  230.)  She  utterly  forgot  him  in  her 
silent  contempt  for  the  perfidy  of  her  sisters,  and  was 
more  anxious  to  punish  their  hypocrisy  than  to  reward 
his  love.  It  is  an  admirable  quality  to  hate  wrong- 
doing; but  it  is  more  divine  to  have  compassion  on  the 
foolish  and  unfortunate.  Cordelia  in  her  pride  was  un- 
willing to  speak  her  true  love  for  her  father  lest  she 
should  be  thought  also  to  be  a  flatterer.  So  she  con- 
cluded to  "love  and  be  silent,"  and  leave  her  father  a 


f^, 


Xing  Lear  jmj 

victim  to  the  treachery  of  her  sister.. 

«,.  J       .*  -x"  ""■"Kl't""'  attitude,  Cordeli.  lost 

her  Hfe  in  Jr  '"*"■'•-»"  opportunity  she  later  paid 

but  not  until  her  obstinacy  had  ijone  so  farVhri  'f 
ejects  ecld  not  be  stayed,"  But  sr^aT  th^d  t^U^^ 
of  her  father,  and  at  bottom  thought  chiefly  of  heVself 
She  had  not  been  taught  to  make  sacrifices^for  others 
and  m  the  critical  moment  for  Lear  her  haughS 

fJ^r,  T  ''^"-  ."."  ^'^P-'t'on  proved  to  have  a 
fatal  weakness,  and  in  its  outcome  both  she  and  he^ 

endeaU'To  unl^^  *°  destruction.  That  she  later 
fn-lff?  .M  ?  ^"  "''°*'  "^°^«'  *«  Snider  says,  "an 
indestructible  element  of  goodness  in   her  natu;e."" 

friL  f  ^^"  T"  u^'  *°  ^"~^^  '^'  consequences  of  the 
original  impulse  that  caused  the  trouble 

Lear  was  quite  unprepared  for  such  a  disolav  of 
"pnde  and  suUenness" »  from  his  favorite  Zghter 
and  was  forced  at  the  last  moment  to  change  his  2ns 
and  give  her  larger  third  to  her  sisters.  *It  wm  „o 
part  of  his  plan  to  live  with  Goneril  and  ReJl"  T, 
Professor  Bradley  has  pointed  out,  but  theTdden 
and  unexpected  perverseness  of  cUlia  comS 
bm    to  his  very  great  humiliation,  to  arrange  tS^ 

W  «f  ri^  "'"?V  ^''  ^""^  »"d  uncom?romis  ng 
ove  of  truth  placed  her  father  in  a  false  positio^and 
threw  him  upon  those  who  had  no  truth  in  them 

»0p.  eU.  p.  169. 

'Coleridge,  op.  eit.  p.  SS«. 


•     v-amA  *^ 'rtw^!&B^PS3lii^^«> 


26S 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


It  18  the  fashion  in  certain  quarters  to  laud  Cordelia 
as  the  embodiment  of  all  that  is  excellent.    Mrs.  Jamie- 
son  speaks  of  her  as  "governed  by  the  purest  and  holiest 
of  impulses  and  motives,"  and  as  approaching  "near 
to  perfection."    Others  speak  of  her  as  the  loveliest  of 
all  Shakespeare's  women.     But  care  must  be  taken  not 
to  praise  too  much  those  whom  the  course  of  the  play 
condemns.    Sweet  and  beautiful  she  is,  but  obstinate  and 
perverse  as  well.     If  she  appear  as  a  goddess,  it  is  as 
a  goddess  in  the  pouts,  a  little  loss  than  divine,  and  very 
human  after  all.     We  cannot  but  sympathize  with  her 
righteous  indignation  at  the  wickedness  of  her  sisters, 
but  neither  can  we  forget  that  her  neglect  of  her  father 
subjected  him  to  the  slings  and  arrows  of  outrageous 
fortune,  for  as  Lloyd  says,  "her  disinheriting  was  a 
greater  misfortune  to  her  father  than   to  herself."  ^ 
A  goddess  should  be  not  less,  but  more  compassionate 
than  mortals,  and  should  be  willing  to  do  a  great  right, 
do  a  little  wrong,  and  curb  the  cruel  devil  of  her  sis- 
ters* will. 

Shakespeare  apparently  had  very  exalted  notions  of 
the  duties  of  children  to  parents,  and  expected  them  to 
accommodate  themselves  to  the  weaknesses  of  their  par- 
ents. We  cannot  rid  ourselves  of  our  filial  relationships, 
and  some  things  that  cannot  be  mended  must  be  en- 
dured. If  Cordelia  had  been  thoroughly  well-disposed 
to  her  father,  had  had  a  pure  unselfish  affection,  there 
18  no  doubt  she  would  have  been  willing  in  such  an 
emergency  to  subjugate  at  least  some  of  her  pride  to 
the  necessities  of  the  case.  It  cannot  well  be  claimed 
that  the  display  of  hypocrisy  on  the  part  of  her  sis- 
ters deceived  her  as  it  did  her  father.  Her  plain  duty, 
then,  recognizing  their  deceit,  was  to  state  her  affec- 
*  Fumess,  p.  16. 


King  Lear  ^go 

harderThin^liX?:!:""'"   ■•"'  ""«'  ••"  ''- 

lJl'"^''Y'   »'"•'"»■•'■""»   irritated  and  an«red  her 
father  who  w«,  „„t  aeeustomed  to  such  ^M,      vj 

fh!  L  *  ;  ^*  ^"^  ^''^  accepted  the  hypocrisv  of 
the  Oder  two  for  a  true  love,  so  he  misunderstocS  Cor- 
delms  ^lence  as  a  challen^  to  him  rather  han  a  re 
buke  to  her  sisters,  as  it  was  intended.  Kent  was  willing 
to  ncur  Lear's  wrath  to  try  to  save  himf^orhis^o  l/ 
bit  Cordelm  was  unwiUing  to  speak  her  love.    Lear  was' 

hood.'  '"hentance  and  repudiated  his  father- 

V^il  fi'*'"'"^  ""  ""y  P"**""*'  care. 
Propinquity,  and  property  Vf  blood. 

Hold  thee  from  this  forever." 

(I.  i.  U3-S.) 

A  hard  curse  that  later  causes  him  a  "sovereign  shame  " 
Lear's  motne  is  condemned  as  selfish  by  thfan^rh. 
showed  at  Cordelia's  refusal  to  flatter  '  To  a  srcere 
and  truth-lovmg  mind  Cordelia  would  not  have  aT 
peared  loveless,  but  to  one  who  desired  onlj  flattery 


S64 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


her  answer  was  intolerable.  Lear  could  brook  no  defi- 
ance and  least  of  all  from  the  daughter  he  deemed  the 
most  obsequious. 

Cordelia  nevertheless,  is  a  lady  of  very  great  excel- 
lence No  doubt  France  speaks  with  a  lover's  fondness, 
but  the  play  bears  out  all  the  good  qualities  he  sees 
in  her  (I.  ,.  249,  ff.)  The  very  fact  that  he  as  wiU- 
ingly  takes  her  dowerless,  as  when  he  thought  her  a 
queen,  speaks  as  well  for  his  own  worth  as  for  hers. 
But  Shakespeare  has  made  her  less  excellent  than  in 
the  old  play  of  Kmg  Lear,  where  she  was 

"so  nice  and  ao  demare: 
So  sober,  courteous,  modest,  and  precise,"* 

that  she  is  the  envy  of  her  less  virtuous  sisters.  In 
Shakespeare  she  is  still  the  favorite  of  her  father,  but 
not  quite  the  angel  of  the  old  play.  The  change  in  her 
character  is  no  doubt  made  to  emphasize  the  tragic 
aspects  which  Shakespeare  saw  in  her  from  the  first,  and 
which  he  later  makes  explicit,  though  he  leaves  her  suf- 
ficient virtue  to  win  our  love  and  pity. 

The  disinheritance  and  banishment  of  Cordelia  are 
an  extreme  penalty,  and  unworthy  of  Lear.  Because 
she  could  not  give  him  more  empty  adulation  than  her 
sisters  she  has  to  suffer  the  loss  of  everything.  The 
unworthy  are  rewarded  because  they  are  base  enough 
for  flattery,  and  the  worthy  is  cast  out  because  too 
honest  'o-  flattery  and  too  noble  for  intrigue.  Goneril 
and  Regan  had  professed  love  in  accordance  with  their 
ambitions  rather  than  their  affections,  and  were  re- 
warded with  all.  But  to  an  understanding  heart  there 
was  more  love  in  Cordelia's  silence  than  in  all  the  fine 
phrases  of  her  designing  sisters.  Lear  was  the  only 
one  who  did  not  know  this,  and  he  did  not  see  it  be- 
•  Fumess,  p.  393. 


wmi^wwi 


King  Lear  £^ 

ot  putSevil  for  'oS"^"]'  '"f*'™*'^  *»  the  point 

tear  Sh  hL  o^,*S^V*,"^  ^^'^^  '■"•  """•  ">■"  ^k" 
cold-bwjj  r    ""''*"*;'■>'  daughter,  and  raise  up  the 

None  know  better  than  the  si«.tpr«  fK-*  t 
committed  an  act  of  grievous  /o  Iv      To        ?"  }i^' 
they  speak  of  it   Rp««n  otV -k  *•     ^'     ^°  ^*^^  o*^er 

i-syLstnT^l^hTh^r^I  t^,^«7 -5 

father  3  brazen  acknowledgment  of  his  illegitimacy  b^ 

llr     I„*^r  VrrP^".'^^^"^*  ^^^  faithfulTo„?E^ 
gar^In  the  plot  the  primary  conflict  is  betweei  the 
Lont0mporary  BtvUw,  Vol.  LXX.  p.  895. 


860 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


father  and  the  faithful  daughter,  until  it  is  transferred 
to  the  faithless.  Jn  the  underplot  it  is  between  the 
faithless  and  the  faithful  son,  until  the  father  is  de- 
ceived  into  joining  the  faithless  son.  Both  stories,  as 
has  been  said,  present  the  father's  tragedy,  and  the 
fact  that  in  one  case  the  conflict  is  with  daughters  and 
in  the  other  with  sons  precludes  the  view  that  the 
dramatist  lays  the  blame  for  such  conflicts  on  either  sex. 
The  desire  to  prevent  such  an  interpretation  may  be 
one  reason  for  Shakespeare's  combination  of  the 
Gloucester  story  with  the  tragedy  of  Lear. 


nr 

As   was    to  be  expected,  Lear's   retention   of  "The 
name  and  all  th'  addition  to  a  King"  (I.  i.  135)  im- 
mediat.ly  made  trouble  in   the  household   of  Goneril 
The  course  of  education  he  had  given  his  daughters, 
and  t}     example  he  had  set  them,  were  not  conducive  to 
soft   c     nphance  when   once  the  power  and  authority 
were  ,n  their  hands     "Till  now,"  says  Gervinus,  "they 
had  rtattrred  him  like  dogs,  they  had  said  ay  and  no  to 
every thi       he  said."  '     They  had  obeyed  complacently 
as   long      «    they  must.     But  when   obedience  was   no 
longer  co  .pulsory,  they  at  once  assumed  to  command, 
and  after  ihe  manner  of  their  father.    Th«-y  had  obeyed 
so  long  as  he  was  in  command,  but  now  that  they  are 
in  control  they  expect  obedience  from  him.     The  law 
of  service  he  had  inaugurated  was  still  kept  in  force 
after  he  retired,  but  was  less  acceptable  to  him  when 
their  relations  to  it  were  reversed.     Lear  soon  found 
hims.lf  unable  to  tohrate  the  treatment   he   received, 
and  rebelled  against  the  domination  of  his  daughters,' 
^Shakeapeare  Commenlarieg,  Eng.  trans,  by  Bmiiittf.  p    «^4. 


J^ing  Lear  ^^j 

thus  brining  the  conflict  to  an  acute  stam.     Mo        u 
not  «ee  the  defects  in  hi«  own  laTof     runtfhe  a"nd 
his  daughters  had  exchanged  places      Ut         m       . 
tolerate  in  then,  the  san,e  find 'of  rovere^ntrtt' h 
had  himself  exercised  in  the  day  of  his  powe"  ^  ^^ 

Tr     w  I  "^'^  "^"^  incompatible  from  the  outset 

Trouble  began  about  Lear's  censorious  manner  and  th; 

sUtemenf  T'^H'''  °^^'^  ^""'^^^^  retainers  Goner  P 
statement  of  the  conduct  of  Lear's  knight,  must  h^ 
taken  as  true,  as  it  is  not  the  manner  of  Shakespeare  t 
budd  dramatic  actions  on  falsehoods.  All  such  stated 
ments  bv  persons  of  the  drama  must  be  taken  as  cor- 
rect when  there  ,s  nothing  i„  the  play  to  the  contrary 
There  >s  every  reason   to  believe  that  IeRr'«  ^11    I* 

more  Uke  rowdies  than  gentlemen.  Not  one  of  the 
charges  Gonerd  makes  against  them  is  refuted  by  Lear 
or  by  any  one  else.  Lear  furthermore  makes  himself 
^jectionable  by  his  fault-finding  and  comptbing  un- 

ILnJh.  V  ^  '""^^^  ''  *^^*  ^^»»'  <^annot  under- 
stand he  has  given  away  his  authority  with  his  kini 
dom;  and  even  the  retention  of  the  title  of  king  d"?^ 
not  secure  him  the  subservience  of  his  daughtefs  and 
their  households  He  really  intended  to  g"ve  nothW 
away,  and  is  discomfited  when  he  finds  h^^  authorlt? 

(I.  Hi.  ir-19.) 
Kent's  devotion  to  Lear  under  all  onnAu: 

t.  briKhton  „p  the  ^„„..  dit:.,:'r;  'ToVTh": 

r*.r  wa,  not  altogether  unlovable.    Kenf.  recoUeoti^n 


S68 


HamUt,  an  Ideal  Prince 


of  Lear  before  the  cv.l  days  had  come  keeps  him  faith- 
ful m  the  folly  of  the  king's  old  age.     The  Fool's  un- 
shaken allegiance  when  he  knows  full  well  that  Lear 
has  made  an  uncommon  fool  of  himself  points  back  to 
the  days  when  Lear  was  wise.     Lear's  foUy  is  not  a 
Melong  faihng,   for  men   of  the  age  of  Kent»   and 
Gloucester    remember    belter    days,    though    Goneril 
thinks  that  "The  best  and  soundest  of  his  time  hath  been 
but  rash."     (I.  i.  893-4.)     Old  age  has  brought  fool- 
ishness, and  despotism  has  bred  imbecility.     Lear  is 
not  the  man  he  was.    Absolute  power  for  so  many  years 
has  debased  his  moral  and  spiritual  nature.    The  price 
of  tyranny,  of  despotic  power  over  others,  is  to  lose 
control  of  one's  self.    Lear  still  wishes  to  manage  oth- 
ers when  he  has  no  power  left  to  manage  himself.     He 
has  so  long  been  absolute  that  he  cannot  endure  re- 
straint, and  cannot   restrain  himself.     To  be  under 
the  sway  of  Goneril  is  more  than  he  can  bear.     Lear 
therefore  gets  into  a  bitter  conflict  with  Goneril  that 
leads  from  bad  to  worse  until  both  are  undone. 

Lear's  residence  with  Goneril  is  in  every  way  disas- 
trous. As  Goneril  says,  he  sets  them  all  to  odds  (L  iii. 
6).  The  dependents  at  once  realize  the  change  in  au- 
thority, and  before  he  has  completed  the  arrangements 
connected  with  the  division  of  the  kingdom  their  obe- 
dience IS  less  instant  ("Who  stirs?"  I.  i.  125).  There 
18  an  immediate  abatement  of  kindness  and  deference 
from  all  ahke,  the  dependants  as  weU  as  the  daughters. 
Confusion  reigns  in  the  royal  household,  and  Goneril 
informs  her  servants  that  they  need  pay  little  attention 
to  Lear,  and  that  "what  grows  of  it,  no  matter."  (I 
111.  «4.)  When  Lear  first  notices  the  neglect,  he  hopes 
it  18  not  meant  for  unkindness  (L  iv.  66-7).  But  his 
•  Kent  was  48  years  old.    Cf.  I.  iv.  S8,  and  II.  il.  58. 


J^iitg  Lear  j^qq 

U»  «r.t  tm..  he  r.cog„i„.  th,  „„„g  ITjclriZ" 

(I.  Iv.  860-1.) 

prove  .  ..ving  g„ce.    But  hi.  morll  Tili  h?',!"'' 
dinuned,  and  he  cannni  n,!«v  »  "  ""  "'n 

be  equJly  unwelJome^^tTRei"'  "TheTrhl"''  *■%""' 
tore,  that  marked  hi.  ^lewC'h.  ...  •'"'"?  ''" 

Lear-,  nund  had  undoubtedly  become  weake^^'  h, 

fVoweVTJhfb'y?  •?'*'"' """  "-h:Subi^„^^ 
.t  &  I:  fl'«r iTir^^trnrr' 

not  been  accu.tomed  to  the  nece^.,S;  „7  iif.^'t,^',' 
and  he  now  find,  it  quite  impo..ible.  hVCI^^I 
h.  moral  balance  and  nowl.  i„  dan^J  Ti^^ 


#     - 


«70 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


mental  balance.  Hi.  prayer  to  heaven  to  keep  him 
from  inadnes.  ,«  very  pathetic,  but  could  come  only 
from  one  who  had  long  indulged  a  wild-horst  temper, 
and  who  WU8  begmning  to  be  conscious  of  his  weaknc..! 
In  no  way  blaming  himself,  but  charging  all  his 
troubles  against  Goneril's  hatofulness,  Lear  .w?eep»  out 
of  her  house  .n  a  perfect  storm  of  rage,  and  betakes 
himself  to  Regan,  saying: 

"I  have  another  daughter. 
Who,  I  am  sure,  ia  kind  and  comfortable." 

(I.  iv.  999-300.) 

Regan*8  absence  from  home  at  the  Duke  of  Gloucester's 
causes  him  little  discomfiture.  But  when  she  and  her 
husband  refuse  to  respond  to  his  call  to  come  out  to 
him  his  rage  bursts  into  a  perfect  fury.  Hi.  pride  and 
haughtiness  are  wounded,  and  the  later  interview  con- 
firm, the  belief  that  Regan  is  a.  ungrateful  a.  her  .i.. 
ter. 

Now,  at  last,  the  old  king  hps  e.tranged  aU  hi. 
daughters,  and  begins  to  see  the  real  situation.  He  is 
.oon  entirely  disillusioned  when  both  join  in  the  attempt 
to  curtail  hi.  dignity,  and  to  deprive  him  of  hi.  royal 
state,  and  .how  that  they  would  even  gladly  be  rid  of 
him  altogether.  With  awful  suddenne..  he  is  brought 
to  realize  he  i.  houseless  and  homeless,  and,  but  for  the 
faithful  Kent  and  the  Fool,  entirely  friendless.  Having 
cursed  and  banished  the  one  daughter  that  truly  loved 
him,  what  inducement  can  he  offer  for  the  unloving  to 
be  faithful?  They  have  now  the  authority,  and  they 
exercise  it  in  the  same  arbitrary  and  heartless  manner 
that  he  nad  done.  Ih-j  have  but  bettered  the  instruc- 
tion he  gave  them,  aud  what  more  can  he  expect? 

Cursing  hi.  daughters,  and  calling  them  "unnatural 
hag.,"  Lear  bursts  out  into  the  night,  which  the  drama- 


King  Lear  H*! 

«t  »clf-oontrol  I..«r  ,„v"    "v.,    I  ."'"P''*'''  'lf<>'> 

full  C.U.C  of  w..pi„;'.r-,,'J';;'l  -:•  7^-  I.h.v.. 
•trn  nt  of  tiari  lin«,.,.  ^  •  .  . ,  *""*''•)  Hu  re- 
thrown n„„X  wi,  ri  :;'hi"*.,'  ;%"''""^ "' "» »v"- 

•li"ll  K<,  mad  "     Now  ;  .1'     '°""^">  "O  '»»'.  I 

an  old  „,,„    „,,d  .'f».l  r';'"  ''■«"''^  "'  »  ^'"K- 

.■n«.«.it«d7wt/„„':t^;v  rxrth'ni^L-"' 

who  out  of  a  fonUaJi  ♦,.„  I  "K"i«^r8.  inc  old  Lear, 

bctr;xrr:o:;rdSn'S?H7;izr"'r-^ 

of  uddi-d  uowir  he  i.  .f!..  J  ,^.  '"*'""'•  In't"-""! 
incrc.,.^^:::;:,i':';7'^P;^»'aU  power;  i^ 

«nd  conlimpt;  instead  nfTZ  7  '  I,^"  ""'.y  "™"' 
n.e„t  of  «11  thr'Iauthte  '  he  tf?^  'T.""-!  ""«'" 
«nd  .ep.r«ti„n  from  the  thWinnl  /"'"^  °'  "">• 

fortable  home  forT.  „L  '"  P'«<^«  of  n  more  eom- 

anee  of  iS  favorite  cirdT  '■"'',""'  ''"""«'  •"'>«»- 
and  i.  forced  out  .Vo  til  1'  ''", "°  '"""'^  "»  "I. 
n.«ht.  and  «L°f  tatX'Tn  Z' hTe^f  ."'h!^^ 

tba^t^tLi!;^'^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

rd^.r/.t-'thfrpel-fr--^^^^^^ 

menf  of  his  kingdnni.     While  ZemZ    n     ''^'"^""•'•- 


-'»_ 

s* 


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«72 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


on  their  bounty,  he  really  intended  to  give  them  noth 
ing  substantial,  but  to  collect  from  them  a  devotioi 
that  would  be  the  best  assurance  of  a  dignified  and  roya 
old  age.  He  was  acting,  indeed,  more  from  selfishnes 
and  vanity  than  from  generosity  and  kindness. 


The  first  glimpse  of  Lear  in  the  storm  and  tempes 
of  the  night  reveals  the  fact  that  his  mind  has  turned 
Some  have  regarded  him  as  insane  from  the  start 
among  whom  are  many  of  the  medical  writers.*  Others 
with  much  better  reason  say  he  became  insane  early  ii 
the  play.  2  These  differ  about  the  exact  point  at  whicl 
Lear's  mind  gives  way,  varying  between  his  abdication 
the  cursing  of  Cordelia,  the  mock-trial  of  his  daugh 
ters,  and  certain  other  scenes.  There  is  about  as  mucl 
difference  of  opinion  among  experts  as  in  a  moderi 
crime  of  a  wealthy  young  fool.  In  both  cases  aliki 
an  impartial  jury  finds  it  necessary  to  dismiss  all  spe 
cialists,  and  to  fall  back  upon  common  sense.  In  or 
der,  then,  to  reach  a  proper  conclusion,  we  must  con 
sider  not  only  the  evidence  of  the  text  of  the  play 
but  its  relation  to  the  larger  theme  of  the  play,  and  t< 
the  Shakespearean  drama  in  general. 

With  the  theme  of  the  play  in  mind,  it  cannot  well  b 
maintained  that  Lear  was  insane  from  the  first.  If  h 
were,  the  play  would  be  but  a  mad-house  tragedy,  an( 
of  no  value  to  supposedly  sane  persons.  Shakespeare' i 
tragedies  all  turn  on  moral  not  mental  maladies,  am 

^Furness  says  that  Mrs.  Lennox  was  the  earliest  to  say  Lea 
was  made  from  the  outset,  in  her  Shakstpeare  Illustrated,  1753-4 
(Fumess,  412.)  Of  the  same  opinion  are  Brigham  (Fume« 
419^)  and  Buclmill  (Fumess,  415-6). 

*£.  g.,  Ray,  cf.  Fumess,  41S-14. 


JTingr  Lear  g»yg 

m«A.  1-j  I  '  insanity,  unless  this  term  is  to  he 

kads  to  madness^^Itrthislh:    isTllri,  m'/oMhe 

f^rVi""  ',  "'"  •>'""'»»  of  indulrinrhTs  vanHv 
and  selfishness  lands  at  last  in  madness      *  ^ 

of  IhTdr^ma  '"tK"""."  ^"^''^  ''"  '^e  heart  out 

«oes^"*n*^id'irsCtroritrc'"'=  "r 

rm'ToThT  *t?«  '°  -"""^^  oletalfd  tTu'b-ee't 
them   to  the   arbitrarmess  of  his   own   perverse  iffl 

per2  a^S  i'  "'  """"*?'  *>"'  ^  *''  know  that  a  pam^ 
pered  and  perverse  egoism    s  one  of  the  most  nS 

causes  of  madness.    Absolutism  alwaystoZi/a  S 

kne'wTttf;  Jh  "T'?'  "'  "^"  «'  ^"  men  NoWy 
knew  better  than  Shakespeare  the  thinness  of  theTfl 

stir'"'""'  "  t'"'^^  "«'  ""<>  ""  unbalanced  mind 
Shakespeare  would  say  to  us  that  it  is  LerrTZrai 

derinr  Ttre  "'  "L ■'T'"""*'^  '"'  his  mental  ;."' 
aenngs  There  may  be  plenty  of  cases  where  the  mind 
IS  overthrown  by  physical  conditions,  but  Lear^™ 

egoism.    His  disease  ,s  spiritual  rather  than  phTsical 
Shakespeare  at  any  rate  treat,  it  a,  such    JZ^k'' 
must  be  his  justification  for  holding'^Lear  Jtrialy't 


274 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


account. 

No  doubt  the  ingratitude  of  the  two  faithless  daugh- 
ters was  the  last  straw  to  break  the  already  over- 
strained mind  of  Lear.  Somewhere,  then,  between 
Lear's  departure  from  Gloucester's  castle  and  his  ap- 
pearance in  the  storm,  the  old  king's  wits  actually  fail 
altogether.  Shakespeare's  practice  of  reflecting  the 
disturbed  condition  of  the  moral  world  in  the  storm  and 
tempest  of  nature  will  help  us  to  see  that  the  breaking 
of  the  storm  as  he  leaves  Gloucester's  castle  marks  the 
dramatic  collapse  of  Lear's  mind.  Lear  takes  the  rag- 
ing of  the  elements  as  a  mark  of  nature's  hostility,  and 
tries  to  excite  their  pity  by  calling  himself  "a  poor, 
infirm,  weak,  and  despised  old  man."  Then  he  re- 
proaches the  elements  for  joining  with  his  "two  perni- 
cious daughters"  and  engaging  in 

"Your  high  engender'd  battles  'gainst  a  head 
So  old  and  white  as  this.    Oh !    Oh !  'tis  fcul !" 

(III.  ii.  23-4.) 

When  Gloucester  next  sees  him  he  pities  Lear's  dire  dis- 
tress, not  knowing  he  will  soon  lose  his  own  eyes  as  Lear 
his  wits.  It  was  Lear's  mind  and  Gloucester's  eyes  that 
led  them  astray,  and  in  losing  wits  and  eyes  "the  wheel 
is  come  full  circle." 

Lear's  mind  is  quite  distracted  by  tlie  time  he  meets 
Edgar  as  "Poor  Tom,"  but  with  the  culmination  there 
are  also  signs  of  a  spiritual  purging  that  is  to  bring 
his  restoration.  The  turning-point  is  reached  in  the 
arraignment  and  trial  of  his  daughters,  in  which  he 
demands  justice  upon  them,  not  knowing  that  in  the 
course  of  justice  neither  he  nor  they  should  see  salva- 
tion. In  the  uncontrolled  fury  of  his  passion  he  soon 
completely  exhausts  himself,  and  collapses  into  a  sooth- 
ing and  healing  sleep  from  which  he  wakes  to  a  re- 


King  Lear  g^S 

newed  life      His  passion  luis  run  its  course,  and  has 

Jc^ts'toTM'  *''^1"'  ."^  Shakespeare  wrong-doing 
reacts  upon  the  social  order  ,is  well  as  upon  the  indi 
^.dual,  and  crc^ates  widespread  confusion  and  d  L  te 
The  cnme  of  Claudius  puts  all  Denmark  in  tro,.blc   and 
even  endangers  its  peace  with  Xorwav.     Th.  cri na  of 
;Yo""5        T'^'T  T^  "''^^-  '"  «->H-H^^uK^  invites    nv« 

ni  his  family,  and  disorder  in  the  kingdom,  and  even 
brings    about   an   attack   from    Frances      Si  arspllr 

tured  It  so  that  he  who  runs  may  read.  ^ 

VI 

Cordelia  at  no  time  drops  out  of  the  play  entirely 
Her  let  er  to  Kent  (II.  ii.  161-2)  shows^thlt  si rhas' 
not   lost   interest   in  her   father,   and   in   Kent'     "ob- 
scured course "     Being  cut  off  from  Lear  by  her  bat 
ishment    she  ke.  ps  in  touch  with  him  by  a  correspond- 
ence wi  h  Kent    and  maintains  spies  in  the  country  to 
nform  her  of  the  affairs  of  state.     She  had  evidenth 
too    thought   better  of  her   haughtiness,   and   '  "i'; 
willing  to  accommodate  herself  to  the  conditions  she 
canno    mend.     Her  life  in  France,  in  happy  marriag 
«ith  the  King,  has  given  her  time  for  reflection,  and  she 
now  seems  to  be  awaiting  an  opportunity  to  indo    he 
hann  c,,,,d  b     her  pride.     The  occasion  comes  wth 
the  division      'twixt  Albany  and  Cornwall,"  and  now 
she  IS  ready  to  send  a  French  force  to  succor  the  old 


,*">«,-  .. . 


276 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


Cordelia's  difference  with  her  father  had  quickly 
given  way  to  her  love,  and  she  began  cautiously  and 
slowly  to  try  to  ingratiate  herself  once  more  into  his 
favor.  When  she  found  the  occasion  for  intervention 
she  quickly  dispatched  a  force  to  his  aid.  At  the  same 
time  Lear  IS  going  through  a  process  of  moral  purging, 
and  h.s  mind  and  heart  are  getting  ready  for  the  recon- 
ciliation. Kent  understands  the  moral  process  going 
on  m  Lear's  soul,  and  discerns  a  consciousness  of  the 
wrong  done  to  Cordelia  that  makes  Lear  ashamed  to 
see  her : 

inat  stnppd  her  from  his  benediction,  turn'd  her 
lo  foreign  casualties,  gave  her  dear  rights 
To  his  dog-hearted  daughters;  these  things  sting 
His  mind  so  venomously  that  burning  shamt- 
Detains  him  from  Cordelia." 

(IV.  iii.  42-7.) 
But  Cordelia,  too  has  now  a  different  and  a  humbler 
spirit,  and  ,s  willing  even  to  give  all  her  "outward 
worth  to  him  that  will  help  restore  her  father's  "be- 
reaved sense  "  It  has  been  a  fearful  trial,  but  the  fi.es 
have  subdued  and  refined  the  spirits  of  both  father  pnd 
daughter. 

The  tenderness  with  which  Cordelia  nurses  her  father 
back  to  sanity  almost  obliterates  our  memory  of  her 
first  intolerance.  The  spirits  of  both  have  undergone 
a  great  transformation.  Both  have  experienced  a  spir- 
itual earthquake  that  has  shaken  their  being  to  the 
very  foundations.  Perhaps  nowhere  else  has  the 
dramatist  penetrated  so  deeply  into  the  very  springs  of 
Me,  and  nowhere  else  has  he  better  depicted  two  souls 
in  the  remaking.  Their  attitudes  to  each  other  have 
entire  y  changed.  Lear  now  humbles  himself  before 
Cordelia,  thinking  her  still  hostile,  and  is  willing  to  sub- 


King  Lear  m<j 

when  convinced  of  h^r  H«!i  Anese  he  accepts 

"fnr^f       !i  /      .       ^  Kindness  and   requests  her  to 

sl  fif    ^n  l^'-^y''  ^  ^"^  °^d  «"d  foolish."     (IV   V  J 

themselves  to  this  end  P^'*'"'  '""'*  ^^'^''^^^ 

Most  of  the  earlier  form«  nf  tu^  t 

The  Ar.-n^  i.„,  „^J  Shakcs^^re  i  "the  „"„lf  ^  Xn^Jf 
France.    Shakespeare  must  have  had  some  good  reason 

plr     "  .s    hat  he  considered  that  for  LearTo  1  t„ 
France  would  be  a  temporary  esean^  f,.„,»  .1,      ^ 
quences  of  his  act,  and  t?is  he'^cou  d'^ot  aTJ     ShaT" 

onhe  so,d  in  /Hich  the  drZ^^f  ^ed'^.:' -f^ 


278 


Hamlet,  on  Ideal  Prince 


HffHinst  England  is  that  his  patriotism  would  not  per- 
mit otherwise,  and  neither  would  that  of  the  patrons  ol 
the  theatre.  No  doubt  this  is  true,  but  it  is  only  a 
small  part  of  the  truth.  While  not  indifferent  to  po'pu- 
l.ir  and  patriotic  feeling,  Shakespeare  was  generally 
governed  by  larger  conceptions.  The  true  explanation 
IS  probably  to  be  found  in  the  moral  nature  of  the  con- 
flict in  which  from  the  start  Cordelia  had  forfeited  any 
right  to  outward  success.  It  was  still  possible  for  her, 
however,  to  wrest  from  the  defeat  a  moral  victory,  and 
this  the  dramatist  depicts  her  as  winning. 

Nothing  if  more  indicative  of  the  change  in  father 
and  daughter  than  the  resignation  with  which  they  ac- 
cept defeat,  and  their  composure  when  they  find  them- 
selves captives.     They  both  have  now  mastered  them- 
selves, and  prison  bars  cannot  make  them  slaves.     The 
once  haughty  monarch   readily  accepts   imprisonment 
so  long  as  he  has  his  beloved  Cordelia  with  him.     The 
absolute  king  assumes  bondage  with  an  equanimity  that 
IS  the  very  antithesis  of  his  original  frame  of  mind. 
The  man  of  authority  is  now  deprived  of  all  power, 
and  under  the  surveillance  of  a  petty  official.     The  un- 
limited king  submits  to  be  deprived  of  all  liberty,  and 
confined  within  the  walls  of  a  prison  cell,  with  a  com- 
posure as  unlike  as  possible  the  arrogance  and  egoism 
of  his  kingly  mind.     All  he  now  wants  is  that  Cordelia, 
whose  mind  is  now  as  humble  as  his  own,  shall  be  his 
prison-mate  and  attendant: 

"Come,  let's  away  to  prison; 
We  two  alone  will  sing  like  birds  i'  the  cage. 

•     • So  we'll  live. 

And  pray,  and  sinp,  and  tell  old  tales  and  laugh 
At  gilded  butterflies,  and  hear  poor  rojnies 
Talk  of  court  news." 

(V.  m.  8-U.) 


King  Lear 


279 


ers  He  has  found  out  thnt  love  is  the  greatest  thing 
HI  the  world  and  he  now  cares  not  how  little  else  hf 
has,  provided  he  has  love.  All  his  assumed  absolutism 
and  autocracy  have  given  place  to  meekness  and  dooi^ 

vfth  rw  |!l-  ""^   ^"^  ""•'  *°  '"^'^""^'^  ^"^-^   (equality) 
Hith  Cordelm   rcTognmng  it    .s  bc-tter  than  power  (su 

yl^r'\  ^.'"^"^'^  ""  ^^"•^^•^'^^  "'  Shakc^peare\x- 
hibits  such  a  "process  of  purification"  before  he  learns 
the  lesson  of  life  that  love  is  best.     Professor  BraZ 

J,^''cZd"'Thf^' r^^-'^  '''f  x^!'^"  '''^y  "^'>ht  well 
DC   called      The   Redemption    of   King  Lear."  ^      But 

Lears  recovery  is  not  to  his  former  self,  for  his 
body  and  mind  are  greatly  enfeebled.  The  process  of 
his  sorrow  and  its  purging  has  brought  a  moral  and 
spiritual  recovery,  but  it  has  worn  out  his  body  a^d 
his  mind.  Lear  is  a  new  man  spiritually,  but  physically 
he  IS  now  an  old  man  and  ready  for  the  grave^  ^ 

iliough  acknowledging  his  wrong  to  Cordelia,  Lear 
at  no  time  came  to  admit  any  responsibility  for  the  con- 
flict with  Gonenl  and  Reg..n,  and  did  notice  the  wrong 
of  his  original  scheme  of  division.  It  is  very  true  that 
It  was  Cordelia  rather  than  her  sisters  who^condu: 
brough  into  operation  the  hidden  forces  of  evil  that 
lay  in  the  scheme.     No  responsibility  placed  on  Cor- 

fhi'nfl,    T'^'^r-'^T"  *^^  ""grateful  behavior  of 
he  other  two.    Their  schemes  and  counter-schemes,  and 
the    Ihcit  love  of  both  for  Edmund,  are  but  devdop- 
ments  of  the  same  character  that  did  violence  to  Lear 
Shakespeare  was  of  course  unfamiliar  with  the  many 
modern  devices  for  shifting  moral  responsibility  to  the 
broad  shoulders  of  heredity  and  environment,  but  he 
was  intimately  acquainted  with  similar  attempted  eva- 
Shakespearean  Tragedy,  p.  285. 


280 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


sions  under  r'hcr  nampd      a^«  „ii     t  ai 
answer  of  the  univ  "^h  lo^L  s^    ^  ,    't",?^  f'.'  '"^^ 
ous  responsibility  is  possiblr      Tl         u\      '"*"''  '"*'''*'''- 
fuUy  the  moral  deseenT  of  r    ^''.r«\''5.  ^'^<^''  care- 
Edmund,  joined  as  the!  ,iro  •°"'"'  ^"^  «^««"  «"d  of 

stricti,  'to^  accou:;*t;;h  he^Le:  t'rf:  ''z  ^^ 

suffer  at  their  own  hands      H«  ^  .  ,       ?  '''*'^''''' 

into  the  hands  of  rnM,  r  ''f  "°*  ^^*  ^^'^'"^  ^a" 

forfeited  any  rLh^to^t^^^^^^  »^«  had 

n-o-   I.  "^      ?        °  "^^  *"^  nemesis  of  the  nlav      VA 

gar,  however,  plays  this  part  to  Edmund       ^    * 


vn 


Shakespeare   has    been    ccnsiimH    /«,.     u        • 

ten.  ana  S«et":TdS  Z  Cn^^d  *"  ^^S^f 
.pearo"  he  says,  "has  suffered  the  virtue  „f  C^r^v' 

?  Si  e'"t:  thf  h^-'^VT'"'^  to^th  "nafura    S: 

resentat  on  of  the  common  events  of  human  life-  W 
..nee   all  reasonable  beings   naturally  We    justL    f 
cannot  easily  be  persuaded  that  the  oLrvation  of  1'u, 
tice  makes  a  play  wor>ie-  or  tl..»    •»      ''aiion  ol  jus- 

.re  equal,   th?  /udie":: '  wm  t^     i:^/ ^'J^'^l 

?;  t     i  -J    r  Johnson  excuses  what  he  considers  the 

lowlhl  'f      ™  ?'^  °"  *•"=  P'™  0'  realism.     It   s  al! 
lowable,  he  says,  for  a  dramatist  to  violate  justice  he 
cause  .n  actual  life  such  violation  often  taCpL^; 
•Introduction  to  Shakespeare." 


J^ing  Lear  ^f^i 

but  oven  then  he  thinks  it  would  be  better  for  fh. 
dramutKst  to  adhere  strictly  to  justice  '   ^"'  '^' 

Lerr  '^^^'^^r"!^^"^^'  *°«k  up  the  old  story  of  Kin^ 
Lear  he  saw  the  characters  of  Lear  and  C-^f  lei  a  in  f 
very  d.fFerent  light  from  all  previous  writ  's  The 
o  der  wnters  make  the  issue  of  the  conflict  w  th  thed,! 
dd'ball'Tt*'  ''T^^  ^«'-  ^^^-^  «"d  Cordelia  The 
smin  m  the  battle  and  Lear  dying  upon  her  breast 

rlL^'thaf  S'h'k"^"^'  V  '^'  ^"'^  is  later    not 

firs    to  tJ'n  .f^^Y/'"':,^'^"'"^  '^'  ^^^'^^ti^t  ««  the 
nrst  to  tuin  the  old  comedy  into  tragedy.    As  he  later 

did  the  reverse  of  this  in  The  Winter^I  TaU  T^Z 
be  conceded  that  he  had  some  deliberate  fntntion  fn 

dents  Tilt  Shak  '^''^   "P'r"   't  ^^°^'"^  --rsti 
dents  that  Shakespeare  showed  a  deeper  insight  into 

conduct  and  dutracter  than  the  old  chroniclfr  anS 
drama  ists,  and  that  whatever  changes  he  made  were 
)n  the  interests  of  a  higher  justice.  But  Shalspeare'I 
conception  of  poetic  justice  differed  very  great  y  from 
sree1i.!;Te^i^^^^^^^^^^^^    ''  ''^'  ^  -^  '«/  o^f 

onf/^*'"'"'  ^1^7^^'  i«  learning  very  slowly  to  have 
confidence  in  Shakespeare's  moral  judgment  With  a 
few   notable   and   eminent   exceptions   Hke  Lamb    the 

verTn  of  the  r  ""  A  ^'""  '^^^  "°*  ^"'°"^^  ^^ 
Herfor/-    It  /'     '^"'""^  '""""*  "^^^es  Professor 

Herford  is  the  most  pronounced  in  saying  that  «  'Poetic 
justice'  IS  sublimely  defied  in  the  doom  of  Lear  and  Cor! 
deha.  It  remains  for  Professor  Raleigh,  however 

to  suggest  that  Shakespeare's  imagination  ran  away 
with   him.      He    says    Shakespeare    "had    wound    the 
tiagedy  up  to  such  a  pitch  that  a  happy  enZg    as 
^Eversley  Shakespeare,  Vol.  IX.  p.  U.  ^  *^namg,  as 


«8S 


lliniilif,  an  I  thai  I'ri 


mv 


FnllJ \  *!  T.""  ""*^"'^«We."  »  Many  of  the  older 
Engh«h  und  German  critic,,  however,  have  defended 
the  dramatist.  Thry  have  recognized  in  Shakespeare 
ihnuT  "°"**'"^*'^^  thinker,  whose  imagination, 
though  great,  was  never  master  of  his  thought      They 

that  r"  *'\f  ;*  "  .'"  P"""  °^  philosoplUc  th«ughl[ 
that  he  excelled,  and  not  in  in.agination,  if  the  fact 
that  he  invented  few  stories  can  he  taken  as  of  any 
significance.  H.s  work  consisted  rather  in  broaden 
mg  and  deepening  popular  stories  and  chronicles,  and 
thin^?-     ""        "    expression    of    "the    very    life    of 

Shakespeare  was  himself  fully  aware  of  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  change  he  introduced  into  the  story,*and 
has  anticipated  the  criticism  that  has  arisen.  When 
Lear  enters  with  the  dead  Cordelia  in  his  arms,  howl" 
ing  in  the  anguish  of  his  grief,  Kent  exclaims,  "Is  this 
the  pro„,.sed  end?"  (V.  iii.  264.)  But  in  the  course 
Of  e  ents  Kent  becomes  reconciled  to  the  death  uf  both 

life'of  th'Ir'^-'-.'^'r  ""'^^'^  ^-'^  P-^-g  ° 

life  of  the  suffering  king,  he  says : 

Tr*""*  "Jlf  «'"''*•    ^^^  '*•*  '>«™  P«ss!  he  hates  him 

(V.  iii.  314-6.) 
*  Shakeapeare,  p.  92. 
"fL^r^tf"'""'   ®'"*^^*?'  '^  '^""^  l.opeless,  however,   and   says   that 

Pl.y  thus  (.....irieiir.TcoSrKrhrt  \llnlt%^t 


A'lWjijr  Lear  t^^ 

A?l  oipknation.  of  Shnkr.poarr  tlmt  ovorlook  moral 
.•"n,ulor„t,o,„  arc  utt.rly   f„lik..     The  <-o„"i.t>on  t 

1"«  Tan"      'in  th    .„;i;  "C:"  """'"'"  *""'  i" 
♦      1-  ,     .  ""nti     Aionil  causes  ffovt'rn  thn 

rory\"^  'h    ^"l^'"^  '^^  '"^'^  -J  naticfns      They 
sa  e  or  dcs  ro.v  Hum  by  a  silent,  Inexomble  fatality  "^ 
i  he  dca  h  of  C^.rclelia  i«  not,  however,  a  sinrple   but  a 
very  comple.x,  n,atter.     She  is  first  manifest^!  vt^t  m 
of  her  own  obstumcy.     She  saw  clearly  that  her  sister" 
were  deceivm^  her   father,   and   if  she   knew   nothing 
worse  about  them  than  this,  should  hav     taken       "^ 
to  save  her  father  from  them.     Lear  was  predLoIcd 
to  her,  and  nothing  but  her  haughtiness  prevented  hTm 
from  gn-.ng  her  «a  third  more  opulent,"  and  from  find 
ing  the  home  of  his  old  age  with  her.    'in  the    ndTwhen 
she  tned  to  undo  the  wrong  she  had  done,  she  frunS 
her  sisters  so  fully  in  control  of  affairs  that  she  wa, 
compelled  to    acrifice  herself  to  her  father's  cause     We 
admire  the   whole-hearted  devotion   by  which   she  at! 
cmpted  to  atone  for  her  fault,  and  almost  forgive  her 
for  her  pride.     But  no  love  however  devoted  can  call 
back  the  stream  of  effects  from  her  original  act    or 
muzzle  the  tiger  in  her  sisters.     By  her^acrifice  she 
has  purged  her  fault  and  has  been  purified  in  the  proc- 
ess of  time     But  It  must  be  said  that  her  death  was  in- 
evitable,  though  we  cannot  but  think  that  in  the  end 
though  in  the  end  only,  she  is  a  saint  and  a  martyr! 
The  development  of  this  character  in  htr  is  one  of  the 
mam  themes  of  the  play. 

There  is  but  little  trouble  in  accepting  the  drama- « 

Jun^lSorp^'"^''  ^"°*^^  ""^  ^'^^  ^  ^-^^"'  ^'^-^^  Monthly, 


-^•^^sm 


S84 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


untn  hi'  T  u  ""^^  °- ^^  ^  ""^**^^  *^^  *™^'  «"d  occasion 
until  he  should  commit  some  act  of  folly  that  would  bo 

his  nim  and  the  probable  ruin  of  his  kingdom.  Tha^ 
the  kingdom  was  not  destroyed  is  due  rather  to  Provi- 
dence than  to  any  saving  grace  in  Lear  or  his  daugh- 

ll  1,  II  ?  ""^""'^y  ^^^  ^"  '^  "^^™^"*«  °f  tragedy.  Yet, 
though  Shakespeare  could  not  save  Lear's  life,  such  is 
his  moral  faith  that  this  meanest  and  most  selfish  of 
vices  IS  subjugated  even  in  a  king,  and  gives  place  to 
the  virtue  and  grace  of  humility.  A  more  difficult  spir- 
itual task  can  scarcely  be  conceived.  Yet  Shakespeare 
depicts  the  whole  matter  with  consummate  artistic  skill, 
and  presents  it  with  an  unwavering  faith  in  the  possi- 
bility of  its  eradication. 

1  .^1°V*'?*^'''  .™^a"^hil^'  Js  saved  from  himself  by  the 
skillful  deception  of  Edgar  in  the  famous  Cliff  Scene 
By  very  careful  manipulation   of  the  blind  old  man 
Edgar  brings  him  to  his  senses,  and,  as  soon  as  he  can, 
reveals  himself  to  him.     His  devotion  to  his  father  has 
been  truer  than  Cordelia's  to  Lear,  for  at  no  time  does 
he  get  into  an  attitude  of  opposition  or  defiance,  but 
patiently  resigns  himself  to  the  injustice  done  him  at 
the  instigation  of  Edmund.     For  this  heroic  faithful- 
ness  Shakespeare  spares  him  to  the  end  and  brings 
him  to  a  triumphant  vindication.     Nothing  extraordi- 
nary happens  to  bring  it  about,  but  only  the- plain 
course  of  events.     Shakespeare  again  shows  a  sublime 
faith  in  the  moral  order,  and  in  its  certainty  to  bring 
ultimate  triumph  to  right.     Albany,  too,  who  shows 
an  excellent  spint,  is  brought  through  the  play  and 
made  the  heir  of  the  entire  kingdom. 

Tate's  revision  of  Kmg  Lear,  like  all  eighteenth  cen- 
tury versions   of  Shakespeare,  is   now-a-days  pretty 


King  Lear  ggg 

£r"!if  ::f  "t.?"'  « --f"l  -ding  neverthe. 

century  ^tdHt  first''7   "'^*  T™   *'"   '"«"«"' 
Icnces     InrakLFrfl        T'"*,  '°  "=«'"■''  "»  "el- 
and Iater"hrhM*„yCSa''T:for°'\\"°'^ 
stories  nf  tK«     i         i      ^"™eiia,  i  ate  weaves  the  two 

dorp^t  to  the  Lear  ITy:::^!^^^::^:^^^'^^ 
oi  the  main  movement     Ruf  kJo  i     •    "^^^g'^&i  part 

nmrrlcd  Edgar  trCoMel;^  h"  conclusion,  in  which  he 
verdict  on  Cordell'.  kI-  '  "'"'.  '""»>'  Shakespeare's 
o/  n.uch™oj*^t:t'r,  i'lT  KuAhetlTr?  '|  "'"^ 
tinuance  of  Lear  in  a  renewed  life  detract;  fr'L.'r" 

r^Ih  tfeTv™Ztd°th  ""   T^''^^^^^'^ 

Sha.e.,earer---„VLn'r:l^^^^^^^^^^^ 
Kings.     Opinions  may  differ  ahn..f  fK«       *•  t-  . 

of  Tate's  versinn  hJ^u  *^^  artistic  merits 

iate  s  version,  but  there  cannot  well  be  a  Hpnlnl  fK„i. 

x^^tniLnhXteX:^"^^ 

The  waires  of  »^tl^J'^^°^  ^^'^  taste 
ine  wages  of  their  virtue,  and  all  fofn 

The  cup  of  their  deservings." 

(V.  Hi  SOS-*.) 

oft:"LrrtTvetn  "  ^.J**^^'  ^^^^^  *^^  development 
ui  ine  narrative  separates  the  ffood  and  fK*.  KoJ 

Z  t^  «""''  ■-"-'  -d  '"e  badVorstlnd  finX  S- 

vm 
The  opinion  has  recently  been  expressed  that  the  view 
of  the  world  presented  in  King  Leari.  not  the  Chrislial 


S86 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


h 


}Vw 


conception.^     It   ,s   very  difficult   to   sympathize  with 
J       opinion,  for  It  involves  un  erroneous  view  of  King 
Lear,  or  of  Christianity,  or  of  both.     Nothing  could 
he  more  m  accord  with  Christianity  than  the  view  of 
the  moralhfe  just  set  forth  as  the  underlying  concep- 
tion of  the  play.     That  it.  is  moral  wrong  that  sepa- 
rates persons  into  two  classes,  and  that  the  broad  way 
leads  to  destruction,  and  the  narrow  wav  to  life  is  the 
very  essence  of  Christianity.    Both  the  plav  and  Chris- 
tianity maintain  the  view  that  the  course  of  human  life 
IS  presided  over  by  a  Power  greater  than  the  individ- 
ual  and  that  that  Power  metes  out  destinies  according 
to  the  life  lived.    At  the  same  time  both  provide  for  a 
change  of  heart  on  the  part  of  evil-doers.    Repentance 
and  forgiveness  are  fundamental  conceptions  in  both 
It  does  not  come  within  the  sphere  of  the  dramatist  to 
formulate  metaphysical  conceptions,  but  his  view  of  the 
moral  order  is  in  perfect  accord  with  the  theistic  view 
of  Chnstiamty.     Many  of  the  conceptions  of  Chris- 
tianity are  no  doubt  not  to  be  found  in  the  play,  but 
whatever  views  the  play  does   contain   are  decidedly 
Christian,  and  it  contains  about  all  the  elements  of 
Christianity    that   could   naturally   be   included    in   a 
drama      Professor  Bradley  has  well  said  that  in  King 
Lear    evil  is  merely  destructive:  it  founds  nothing,  and 
seems  capable  of  existing  only  on  foundations  laid  by 
its  opposite.     It  is  also  *^?/-destructive :  it  sets  these 
beings  at  enmity.  .  .  .  Thus  the  world  in  which  evil 
appears    seems    to    be    at   heart    unfriendly    to    it "  2 
This  is  the  fundamental  Christian  conception  that  evil 
IS  the  one  great  destroyer  of  men,  and  the  unalterable 

*  *^C  ^Vt^'J?'''*/'  '7^^  ^^^^  °^  L^ar,"  University  Magazine  (Mon- 
treal), VI,  2,  April,  1907,  pp.  206-225.  ^  magazine  (Mon- 

*  8hakt$ptar0tm  Tragedy,  p.  304. 


^ing  Lear  007 

enemy  of  mankind. 

sents  the  moral  imrU  f"""'"  »e  say  that  it  prc- 
it  is  hopeler  *„lv  t„  1  *'  '""""Wy  jU8t,  and  that 
of  evil      Tf  If    •'^       Pf'""'  "'"•  P«"«t  in  the  ways 

Cordelia  do  not  sC  rt"  '"'"^"f"'  f"  J"^""-  «nd 
ways.    But  the  play  dencfr  ^^  "'"'"«'"«  *»•-■• 

restoration  and  s^™,To  *"  °P™  "7  *'"'"''  "■""'■ 
who  will  forsake  evT     Sn  T       !t  '""''"•?"''■>   *»   all 

just,  but  holds  out  tpe  for  tt  '"•/V't  "°'"  '» 
need  for  despair     tK/,       P™"tent,  there  is  no 

is  so  ™ch?^;:and'';llh'sXr„;'  ttsffe^^, 

ia^:rav:rr«hf^ tvi«"-'  ^-'°''-  •: 

is  light  th™e  is  hoT  Thl  f  """"•  *"''  "•■"»  th"' 
the  co„t«nLtZ\re  a  j:n/7r«  *°?'  "J°  '"=«!« 
in  all  Shakespeare.  WeTre  feai/r'  *"»'*'" 
pcct  Shakespeare's  f uU  and  fin!?"*'  ^TJ"'  '"  "" 

confidence  rather  than  despair  ^*  '°'P^''' 

/^:;Tn-.i-iir:ratn^^^^^^^^^^ 

«""' P^^'-     "  ''  ^"^  ''Snificant  tK  re  e"nee: 
to  rehpon  become  more  frequent  a,  Shake.re.r"  a" 


S88 


Hamlet,  an  Ideal  Prince 


proached   the   end.      The   last  plays,   too,  present   a 
brighter  and  much  more  optimistic  view  of  life  than 
the  earlier,  and  this  has  been  taken  to  mean  that  the 
dramatist  presents  this  as  his  mature  and  final  view     It 
may  only  mean,  however,  that  Shakespeare  had  now 
reached  the  stage  of  his  dramatic  career  in  which  he 
could  fill  out  and  complete  his  view,  and  that  for  this 
completion  the  ideas   of  mercy  and  forgiveness  were 
naturally  presented  more  clearly  in  the  last  plays.    In 
support  of  this  it  may  be  urged  that  nothing  in  the 
last  plays  is  really  new,  for  every  element  had  already 
appeared  m  numerous  earlier  plays.    But  what  is  new 
IS  that  these  elements  of  light  and  hope  are  given  a 
fresh  emphasis,  indicating  no  doubt  a  growing  confi- 
dence in  these  principles  on  the  part  of  the  drama- 
tist. 

It  is  beca  St  of  these  great  moral  and  spiritual  quali- 
ties m  his  dramas  that  Shakespeare  is  so  rapidly  becom- 
ing the  greatest  teacher  of  the  modem  world,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  English-speaking  peoples,  as  Homer  was  of 
the  Greeks.  The  long-continued  and  careful  study  of 
his  dramas  has  trained  the  modern  mind  to  think  his 
thoughts  until  his  influence  has  been  surpassed  only  by 
the  Bible  itself.  We  are  slowly  coming  to  agree  with  his 
opinion  of  the  characters  of  his  dramas,  and  in  this  are 
acquiring  a  much  more  reliable  moral  judgment.  The 
centuries  of  criticism  have  veered  ^-'fher  and  thither  in 
their  judgments,  but  now  show  a  ncy  to  come  back 

to  Shakespeare,  and  to  accept  whatever  is  manifestly  the 
opinion  of  the  dramatist.  Shakespeare  is  rightly  as- 
suming his  place  as  one  of  the  greatest  school-masters 
of  mankind. 


sent  a. 
e  than 
lat  the 

BW.     It 

d  now 
lich  he 
jr  this 
3  were 
^s.  In 
in  the 
Iready 
is  new 
iven  a 
confi- 
rama- 


NOTES 


quali- 
ecom- 

espe- 
vas  of 
dy  of 
tk  his 
ily  by 
thhis 
is  are 

The 
ler  in 

back 
lythe 
y  as- 
isters 


NOTES 
NOTE  A 

THK  STAGING   OF  THE   FIBST  SCENE  OF  HAMLET 

critics  to  find  any  great  significance  in  the  first 
scene  of  Hamlet  has  led  inevitably  to  an  indiffer 

:;::r^i:t7it  °' ''-  r^^  «*«^-^  "^  ^hS: 

follows  that  thi  f  •"  *"',  ^J  "°  significance,  then  it 
rollows  that  the  staging  of  the  scene  will  not  be  such  as 
to  give  any  meaning  to  his  words.  If  the  s7ene  can 
no  be  understood  as  of  great  dramatic  impor Unce,  t  is" 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  it  has  not  had  a  proner 
and  significant  setting.  proper 

..Prr  *'!  "°  '**^'  directions  in  the  First  Folio  ex- 
erS  V  a7"f T "'  '"^  '^^'^'  ^"*  ^^^'^  editors  gen- 
T-ki^  •         ^^''^nore.     a   I'latforan   before   the   Castlp  '♦ 

ground  and  only  the  castle  int^lCgZZT   BuZ" 
On  Shakespeare's  own  staffe  there  w««   «<^ 

attempt  ,„  „p„.nt  the  acTuar^.tT:;*  „"  ^r::»T 

It  wa»  th,s  very  lack  of  stage  settingf  as  an  a^eai 


292 


Note$ 


live  f  J  ;„^  r^.''  "'^'""^  '*»'  Shakespeare  tc 
fi^ve  full  and  exhaustive  exposition  to  such  openin. 
scenes  as  were  of  great  dramatic  importance.  InS 
letihis  dramatic  exposition  is  unusually  full  and  com 
plete,  and  should  determine  the  modern^taL;  of  tt 
thr«n^";"'  representative  stage,  all  theSents  in 
the  exposition  should  be  given  their  due  and  proper 

is  111 'b?Zr.  ''"/"^  \r^  ^^'""^^  ^^  determine,  for  it 
LTrttratX  :""  *^'  conversation  of  the  guards. 
Apart  from  the  entrances  and  the  exits  of  the  varin.,, 
persons  and  the  ghost,  the  settings  are  all  referred  " 
in  one  of  the  speeches  of  Marcellus.  In  his  inquiry  for 
an  explanation  of  the  extraordinary  activities  he  sees 

S  Tnd"mo%^T*^^  '^  ^P^^'^^  ^-*  of^'^hi^sfm" 
strict    and    most    observant    watch."      He    asks    whv 

"nightly  toils  the  subject  of  the  land,"  and  then  Joes 

on  to  explain  the  nature  of  the  work  ipon  which  these 

laborers  are  engaged.     He  next  speaks^of  Cuch  da  ly 

cast  of  brazen  cannon,"  and  asks:  ^ 


"Why  such  impress  of  shipwrights,  whose  sc 
Does  not  divide  the  Sun/ay  from  the  week 


s,  whose  sore  task 


The  two  things,  then,  that  especially  attract  his  at- 
tention are  the  U  ^erish  haste  with  which  the  Dane  are 
casting  new   cannon,   and   the   re-doubled   speed   with 

kinds  of  labor  they  are  working  day  and  night. 
nfVh''  supposed,  therefore,  that  some  evidence 

where'theTIr  "r  T  "^  "'^^^-^^^  '^""^  *^^  P^^^form 

law;  ^""dries  and  the  shipyards  where  these 

labors  are  going  on  are  doubtless  on  the  water-front 
about  the  harbor,  which  is  overlooked  by  the  casUe 


Note$ 


298 


would  ,u««e/t  a,  the  ^a^fn^l  tl    '*';' Dat  "a"' 

Horatio. Jo.d.'-.^^L  a'fi-wa,  t  Zltl  LT 
way,  led  by  young  Fortinbras  for  the  purpose  of  re 

setting,    then,    on    our    modern    representative    st«« 
should  g,ve  some  clue  to  this  situation.  *^ 

NOTE  B 

HOEATIO,  AND  HIS  PA»T  IN  THE  PLAY 

.Jl^""-  "■"'''have  noticed  little  apparent  dis- 
crepances in  the  role  played  by  HoSirTn  tte 
first  scene  of  the  play.  Professor  Bradley  caUs 
atten  ,on  to  the  fact  that  when  HaXf  „«"» 
Horatio  he  scarcely  recognizes  him  at  first.'     Ho"Sio 

lRfi%     A^     1^     i'.'  '""'*  ""'"  ••''  '«*"  once.     (I  H 
186.)    At  a  later  time  Hamlet  explains  to  him  some  of 

n"^r  rriC  uT '"  '"-"^  "^-  H:™t-ls*„"ot": 

'  Shaketpearean  Tragedy,  p.  404.  ^ 


294 


NoUi 


drl  ;-T  '^'^\?^  *^'''  •*  •«  *"  ""••«»"»  that  the 
dram«t.8t  ffives  tho  tusk  of  explaining  "the  pas  I  i  - 
tory  and  present  affairs  of  the  kinRtlom."  T  is  he 
who  answers  the  questions  of  Maredlus  in  the  first 
scene  about  the  war-like  preparations.     It  is     e  who 

ZVwAeUZZ  '"^  ^'^^./---h  -.sting  of  cannon  Ind 
tne  building  of  new  ships  with  such  haste  that  the 
kborers  are  kept  busy  day  and  night,  as  well  ':  Sun- 

Horatio  seems  to  know  more  about  the  affairs  of 

frnri^-     Ik.       P*"'*  ^''*°''y  °^  *^e  country,  and  it  is 

relaTinJl  th'e    U    ^t  ""T"'  «"  *^^  histoVical  fac 
relating  to  the  elder  Hamlet.     From  the  Prince  we  iret 

terpretation  of  the  drama.  It  may  possibly  be  con- 
sidered an  artistic  blemish,  but  it  doe^  not  affectX 
larger  meaning  of  the  i^Uy.  It  is  of  no  great  con! 
sequence  who  supplies  this  preliminary  ifformaUon 
about  the  elder  Hamlet,  and  furnishes  the  history  of 
the  country.  The  important  thing  is  that  thf7,-n 
formation  is  given,  and  that  it  is  giVen  by  one  so  close" 
to  Hamlet  in  the  play  that  his  words  can  b^  taken  as 
giving  us  accurate  facts  of  history 

Had  the  dramatist  cared  for  such  matters,  he  miirht 
have  avoided  the  discrepancy  by  having  Horat"  ^as 
the   stranger    ask   the   quesJons,   and    by   X^^'the 
answers  to  Marcellus  who  apparently  is  a'^iafive  Lne 
But  this  would  have  furnished  the  information  from  a 


NeUi 


tan 


o  III,  word..     Throughout  the  pay  the  part  of  oon 
dr»lt'i\  7"^"''"? .  P'-^"*    "•/  Horatio'^      For   Z 

chiefly  upon  L  lar;e;''a7pcct  of'  "he™rl:'"Tt:i 
are  ,„  „„  way  .(reeled  by  the  fact  thatlXplJy  we 
g»t  our  ,„„de  infonnation  from  an  out»ide  perwn^ 


Quten. 
Hamlet. 


NOTE  C 

HAMLET,    III.    IV.    122-130 
Upon  the  heat  and  flame  of  thy  distemne. 

Will  want  true  color!  tears  perchance  for  blood. 
This  conversation  follows  immediately  the  ifhosrs 
last  appearance  and  his  final  words  to  Hamlet      The 

sonTo  chYd"^**  ^\^**^r'«  ^^°«*  h'^d  come  h  fnaTdy 
son  to  chide,"  and  the  ^host  tells  him,  ^ 

I«  h..f  *       u^  ..        "Th*"  visitation 

Is  but  to  whet  thy  almost  blunted  purpose." 

He    then    directs    Hamlot's    attention    to   his    mother 
eounsolhng  h.m  to  "step  between  her  and  her  fighting 

dif^uk'ti^'"/  !'  "^""^  ™°''  ^°^^^^  *°  ^«^^  the  very 

thf'amc  ni^f     ^^"^'"^v"  '"""^^  '^''''  ^^*her  and  at 
tho  same  t,me  to  spare  h,s  mother.     This  is  the  moral 


<96 


Noi0t 


character  of  Hamlet   disclosing   itself.      The  double 

iomttl^  *°  ^''f^r-f^-  To  revenge  his  father  is 
to  kill  the  king,  and  it  i.  extremely  difBcult  to  kiU  the 
king  without  harming  his  mother.  Hamlet  is  placed 
in  a  very  perplexing  moral  dilemma.  He  has  an  obliga- 
tion to  his  father  and  an  obligation  to  his  mother,  and 
the  two  seem  to  conflict,  or  at  least  the  performance  of 
the  one  seems  to  necessitate  the  disregard  of  the  other. 

^^^r/lT ."  '^^^''  ''"^  *°  ^P**-^  h»  -"Other  are 
almost  hke  two  incompatible  tasks.  The  problem  of 
the  entire  play  is  Hamlet's  attempt  to  devise  means 
to  accomphsh  both. 

♦K^*u'"f\*^l"*  ?^"'  difficulty,  and  urged  once  more  by 
the  ghost  to  both  undertakings,  Hamlet  discovers  that 
his  mother  does  not  see  the  ghost.  Thinking  he  is 
gazing  into  "the  mcorporal  air"  she  becomes  alarmed 
lest  he  IS  distracted,  or  in  a  "distemper."     She,  there- 

1  u'p»""£?'"\T'  ri''"  '"  *""'*''  "Whereon  do  you 
look?"  To  this  Hamlet  replies,  "On  him.  on  him!" 
men  ne  goes  on  to  say: 

i^st  with  this  piteous  action  you  convert 
My  Btem  effects." 

This  conversation  is  usually  taken  as  further  evi- 
dence of  IT  -mlet's  constitutional  inability  to  carry  out 
any  course  of  action  or  revenge.  It  has  been  assumed 
that  his  stern  effects"  are  converted  into  weakness  or 
procrastination  by  the  signt  of  the  piteous  ghost  of 
his  father,  and  that  in  the  very  act  of  trying  to  whet 
Hanilets  dull  revenge  the  ghost  succeeds  only  in 
further  causing  delay  and  inactivity. 

This    however,  cannot  well  be  the  right  interpreta- 
tion of  the  passage.     When  the  queen  asks  Hamlet, 
Whereon  do  you  look?"  he  is,  of  course,  looking  on 


NoUi 


t97 


says  further,  referring  to  the  ghost : 

Hi.  #«-.-      A   "^'°**'*  y°"»  how  pale  he  glares  f 
Hl«  form  and  cause  conloin'd,  preachlnl to Vton*. 
Would  make  them  capable."     *^"**"""«f  *"  "O"". 

The  effect  of  the  appearance  of  the  ghost  is.  therefore 
the  very  reverse  of  causing  Hamlet  to  delky.  but  aJ 
when^he  made  his  first  appearance,  he  inciters'  him  ^o 

pedXrrthi^t-uM     - »-" 

May  sweep  to  my  r^venge.R  (i!'v.  39^,.) 

With  such  thoughts  in  his  mind,  and     ith  such  in 
centives  to  action.  Hamlet  stands  rapt  in  gaze  uDon  hi« 
father's  ghost.    At  that  moment  his^at  entfon  isTat^ 

&ei„g  her  piteous  actions  and  her  alarm  and  amaze- 
ment he  fear,  hi8  compassion  for  his  mother,  who  H 

HI  2  P''^  «  "  ^  ';"  '•»''  •"'"■  "'  his  purpose  to 
k.ll  the  king.     He  therefore  beg,  her  not  to  let  her 

piteous  actions  deprive  him  of  Ws  stem  re  olve,  and 

disarm  h.n,  for  the  great  task  of  executing  ytn«ancc 

^L'ta^t  J^f^olorT  "">"  *"-  '"ood.  and  tears 
At  the  last,  as  at  the  first,  Hamlet  finds  that  the  re- 


298 


Notei 


straint  placed  upon  him  of  not  harming  his  mother  in 
carrying  out  his  great  work  of  revenLg  hTs  father 

added  the  other  restraint  he  places  upon  himself  of 
not  harinmg  his  native  land,  it  may  be  seen  That  Ws 
difficulties  are  almost  insuperable,     fn  all  his  attempt 

nen^marrand  if'  ''  ?"T  '^^  "°*^^^  ^"^  ^^  «P-- 
enmark,  and  it  is  only  the  supreme  perfidy  of  the 

king  that  at  last  leads  to  the  death  of  ?he  quee„  a„d 
the  sacrifice  of  the  life  of  Hamlet  himself 

NOTE    D 

OTHELLO'S  COLOR,  AND  ITS   DRAMATIC   SIGNIFICANCE 

Many  critics  and  actors  seem  to  have  the  no- 
tion that  Othello's  color  is  a  matter  of  no  sig- 
nificance m  the  play.  All  they  see  is  that  he 
18  a  man,  but  u  man  who  happens  to  be  black.  Pro- 
fessor Bradley,  for  instance,  says:  "Othello's  race 

ference  to  the  action  and  catastrophe.  But  in  regard 
to  the  essentnls  of  his  character  it  is  not  importrnt.- 
A  few  Pagt^s  later,  however-but  in  a  footnote-he 
ct"L*  ol  J'^  5^.^^  °^  ^^^—  -  blood  in  in- 

The  difference  in  color  between  Othello  and  Des- 
hflT?'  |l°^«^«'»  f  but  the  dramatist's  device  to  ex- 
c^W  Vl  f  "^"  .the  "difference  of  blood."  Othello's 
color,  therefore,  is  what  marks  the  difference  in  blood 
and  character.     And  no  one  who     cuds  the  text  can 

^  8hake$pearean  Tragedy,  p   187 
*/6W„  p.  193. 


Notes 


299 


apea«'s  Dial  th,,     .."u^T  mterpreUtion  of  Shake- 
play  that  referliTh^uit  c'cl"';  "^  '""""^'  ■•"  ^-"^ 


Kc^'f./^?rj""  '^«  ™*-Ups  «.. 


(I.  I.  T2-S.) 


94-7.) 


Whether  a  maid,  so  tender,  fair,  and  haoDv 

Kun  from  her  guardage  to  the  sooty  bosom 

Of  such  a  thmg  as  thou.  ^  ''««°"'  (,   .  ^^^^^ 

nt  c^j    i  ..^  maiden,  never  bold: 

BlusW«rH'*'V"*^.^"l«*'  ""»»  her  motion 
nfJL  *^"*'^'  *"<*  s'^e,  in  spite  of  nature 

?o  ?!.?•'  f  '^°""*^'  "«d".  everjrthing  ' 

It  i»^  ■^'°^^'  .^"''  *h«*  she  fear'd  to*^ioolc  on- 
It  is  a  judgment  maim'd,  and  most  imperfect 

(I.  iii.  113-118.) 
w™„  ♦    *u        ^y  heart's  subdu'd 

1  law  nfK?/."y.'J"^*y  °f  "y  lord; 
A  ^5  *  Othello's  visage  in  his  mind, 
And  to  his  honors  and  his  valiant  parts, 
Did  I  my  soul  and  fortunes  consecrate. 

(I.  iii.  278-382.) 
T*    ■  ..  ,4"**  "ohle  signior. 

If  virtue  no  delighted  beauty  lack. 
Your  son-in-law  is  far  more  fair  than  black. 

^    J  (I.  iii.  819-821.) 

f^'demona     How  if  she  be  black  and  witty? 
Tago.    If  she  be  black,  and  thereto  have  a  wit. 

Shell  find  a  white,  that  shall  her  blackness  fit. 

(II.  i.  156-8.) 


800 


Notes 


""ll2"dT?'  •*  'lf^„,ii°^  Tl-'i  ^"""f*'  "»U  »•»  '»'«  to  look 
«,  „  (II-  i.  358-863.) 

measure  to  the  hSth  o/^C  At'  *"**  "°"\'i/t  IjlS.J 


The  /m«n.S'"/  "'^'^  weak  merits,  will  I  draw 
Sr  .'Sfo'ilf!"' °^  *l°"bt  of  her  revolt. 


For  shfe  had  eyes,  and  chose  me. 


(III.  ili.  216-8.) 


She  did  deceive  her  father,  marrying  you, 

^".''.:?-.?:s.'ss? ------»--•.«,., 

Ay,  there's  the  point. 

As  (to  be  bold  with  you) 

Not  to  affect  your  proposed  matches 

Of  her  own  clime,  complexion,  and  degree. 

But  (pardon  me)  I  do  not  in  position 
Distinctly  speak  of  her,  though  I  may  fear 
Her  will  recoiling  to  her  better  judgment, 

S  t"^^   ?  "*'**=*'  y°"  ^"'^  ^"  coun^  forms. 

And  happUy  repent  ^     (IIL  iii.  268-279.) 

A„^  u  .  ^^Haply,  for  I  am  black, 

TT^,t  5r^  K°*  **'1^*  *°^*  P*'***  o^  conversation 

That  chamberers  have.  („i,  jj,  ^_^^ 

A    r^.     ,      .   ^y  "*"^  ^^^^  was  as  fresh 

As  Dians  visage,  is  now  begrim'd  and  black 

As  mine  own  face.  (m.  ..,  ^.^  ^ 

Drew  all  such  humJrs'f Sm'SL"'*"^ ''^ '^^^  ^°™' 

(III.  iv.  34-35.) 
ntZll^    S!"'  .*''^  ,T^^  *"8^'  she,  and  you  the  blacker  devil 

^^t    TH!.*Tf  t°,/*''|y'  '^^  ''»'«  *««  »  whore, 
^miho.    Thou  dost  belie  her,  and  thou  art  a  devU 

„  .  (V.  ii.  164-6.) 

If  he  say  so,  may  his  pernicious  soul 

Rot  half  a  grain  a  day:  he  lies  to  th'  heart, 

She  was  too  fond  of  her  most  filthy  bargain. 

(V.  il.  194-6.) 


:i^^^ 


fcn*  ■  -"^^i:*^.-  ,._j 


n- 

•) 

re 

a 
.) 


INDEX 


m 


z,^iit^ 


'2i^m'> 


-^T'"^ 


INDEX 

158,221    223 ^'"*'^^^"      Arnold,  Matthew,  283. 

Additions.  C/'.    Changes.  "^',3°'    ^^'    ^'^"    °^' 

Albany,  Duke  of,  251    275       aJ  ci,  i 

284,  285.  ^  ^^      ^"^^  Shakespeare's.  Cf.  Dra- 

as,  138,  155.  C/.  also  Re- 
venge. 


213,214,253,254,259. 
Antic    disposition,"    Ham- 
let's 62,  62-5,  %^,  Cf.  also 

Madness.  „„         „ 

Antonio,  and  Bassanio   ISO  T  \  ^^^^xcis,  l6l. 

141,  142,  143!  15^?'    5?^  oT^iof o^    ^"°^^^*'«>    »«' 
168;  and  Portia,  140  14J'  J^'  'P^'^'  ''«'  ^^3. 

142,  143,  149,^56?    5J;  ^TTis'ffi    /i?'     '*^' 
,/!«      -«^           '-     _.'        °i  i4a,  143,  144,  147,  150-1, 


Bacon,  Francis,  I6I. 


I08,  169;  and  Shylock, 
188,  140,  148,  144,  145, 
146,  147,  148,  149,  150, 
151,  153,  154,  155,  156, 
163-4,  165;  as  representa- 
tive Christian,   135,   136, 


152,  158,   154,  167,  les! 
169. 

Belleforest,  Francis  de 
(Htfstorie  of  Hamhlet), 
30,  31-2,  S9,  49,  60,  62, 
78,  120,  125. 


145-6,  149,  155;  Boid  of       BestrafteBr,'  .r. 

150,  154,  156,  158,  167-  rfrl  Brudermord,  Der. 

Character   of,    145,    146,'         ll'  ^'"°^°  ^^^^  °^  ^am- 

^4,1  i  Merchant  of  Venice.      Bianca   227 

ut^.oX'°-  "^'  "»'    »'"''  tf  P-  «a  the, 

303 


804 


Index   \ 


Bodenstedt,  F.,  201. 

Booth,  Edwin,  on  Shy  lock, 
148. 

Brabantio,  195,  197,  198, 
200,  203,  235,  236,  238. 

Bradley,  A.  C,  on  Hamlet, 
24,  82,  123;  on  Lear,  258, 
261;  on  Othello,  173-4, 
181,  186,  188,  190,  192, 
196,  199,  203,  204,  210, 
213,  214,  221,  227,  229, 
233,  258,  279,  286,  287. 

Brandes,  George,  131,  134, 
149,  165,  167. 

Business  methods.  Conflict 
of,  in  Merchant  cf  Venice, 
144,  149,  155,  164. 

Caird,  Edward,  265. 

'Campbell,  Lewis,  218. 

,  Thomas,  122,  184, 

160-1. 

Caskets,  The,  in  Merchant 
of  Venice,  137,  138,  140, 
141,  142,  148,  151,  152-3, 
167,  168. 

Cassio,  188,  190,  191,  192, 
196,  208,  214,  218,  220, 
224,  227,  229,  230,  231, 
235,  238-9. 

Chance.  Cf.  Accident. 

Changes  made  by  Shake- 
speare, in  his  stories,  13, 
16,  SO,  »T ;  in  Hamlet,  SO, 
39-40,  49,  78;  in  Lear, 
248,  250,  276-7,  280,  281, 
282;  in  Merchant  of  Ven- 


ice, 30,  137,  138,  140, 
164;  in  Othello,  194,  195, 
206,  237,  238,  239,  242. 
Character,  in  Moralities,  12; 
in  Marlowe,  12;  in 
Shakespeare,  12,  13,  14. 

,  Othello,  a  tragedy 

of,  181,  222,  239. 
Christianity,  101,  136,  l65, 
166,  285-6,  and  Judaism, 
154-5;  Antonio's  concep- 
tion of,  146;  Principle  of, 
157,  158,  165. 
Cinthio,  as  source  of  Othel- 
lo,   194,    195,    206,    225, 
237,  238,  239,  242. 
Claudius,  and  Elder  Hamlet, 
46,   47,    50,   58,    59,    72; 
and    Macbeth,    51;    and 
Norway,    50,    109,    110; 
and  Polonius,  64,  84,  85, 
86,  94;  and  Rosencrantz 
and  Guildenstem,  69,  81, 
88,  90,  108;  as  a  fratri- 
cide, 47,  59,  74,  95,  98-9, 
104;    at    prayer,    100-3; 
Character  of,  47,  50-1,  52, 
82,  87,  115,  116-7;  Fear 
of   Hamlet,   77,    88,   98, 
107,    108;    Influence    of, 
30-1,  48,  47,  51-2,  as,  75, 
76,78, 120, 125;  Unmask- 
ing  of,    116-7.    Cf.   also 
Denmark    and    Claudius ; 
Hamlet    and    the    King; 
Laertes  and  Claudius. 
Closing  scenes,  Importance 


Index 


805 


of,  U,  230,  233;  in  Ham- 
/«M  13-120;  in  Lear,  248, 
260,  280-5;  in  Merchant 
of  Venice.  139,  167-9;  in 
Othello,  230-9. 

Coleridge,  S.  T.,  178;  on 
Hamlet,  23-4;  Cf.  also 
Goethe-Coleridge;  o  n 
Lear,  256,  257,  26l ;  on 
Othello,  178-9,  181,  192, 
218-9. 

Color,  Othello's,  197-8,  199, 
206,  207,  209,  223,  225, 
226;  Importance  of,  298- 
300. 

Conclusions.      Cf.     Closing 

scenes. 
Conflict,    The,    in    Hamlet. 
114-3;   in  Lear,  267;  in 
Merchant  of  lenice,  144, 
153,    154-5;    in    Othello. 
184,  187,   189,   198,  208, 
209. 
Conflicts,     solved    only     by 
love,  153,  169,  279.     Cf. 
also  L.ovc. 
Cordelia,    248;    and    Lear, 
252,  257,  258,  260,   26l, 
262,  263,   264,  265,   269, 
271,  272,  275,  276,  277, 
278,  279,  280,   281,  282, 
283,285,287;Desdemona 
and,    173;    Character    of, 
248,  260,  261,  262-4,  276- 
7,    278,    283;    Death    of, 
283. 
Corson,  Hiram,  23,  180. 


Criticism  of  Shakespeare, 
The,  15,  21,  23-6,  27-8, 
SS,  37,  80,  130,  159,  160, 
174,  176,  177,  178,  181-5, 
187,203-4,211,229,233, 
248,  249,  250,  255,  280, 
281-2,  285-8.  Cf.  also  In- 
terpretation. 

Danish   legend   of   Hamlet, 
30-2. 

Death,    of    Claudius,    110, 
116,  117;  of  Elder  Ham- 
let,   58,    72,    74,    75;    of 
Hamlet,      117-8,      118-9, 
120-1;  of  Lear  and  Cor- 
delia, 279,  280,  281,  282, 
283,284,  285;  of  Othello 
and     Desdemona,     231-2, 
236,  237,  238;  of  Poloni- 
us,  87,  90,  104,  107;  of 
the    Queen     (Gertrude), 
117. 
Denmark,      and      England, 

108,  110,  112;  and  Nor- 
way, 33,  37,  38,  39,  40-3, 
45,  46,  48,  50,  57-8,   77, 

109,  110,  120;  The  Condi- 
tion of,  under  Claudius, 
30-1,  33,  41,  43,  45,  46, 
47,  50-4,  56,  57,  62,  71, 
74,  75,  76,  78,  109,  111, 
113,  121,  125. 

Desdemona,  and  Cassio,  188, 
191,  192,  218,  220,  224, 
238-9;  and  lago,  188.  194, 
195,   212,  218,  226;'  and 


306 


Index 


Othello,    173,    174,    176, 
179,  181,  183,  184,  187, 
188,    189-190,    192,    196- 
203,  208-6,  208,  209,  210, 
222,  223-4,  225,  226,  227, 
228,  229,  231,   233,  234, 
235,  236,  240;  Character 
of,  182,  183-4,  232,  233, 
234. 
Despotism,   in    Lear's    day, 
253 ;  Lear,  as  a  picture  of, 
254,  273;   of   Lear,   249, 
256;     Moral     effects     on 
Lear,  257,  268,  269,  273. 
Dowden,  Edward,  27,   122, 

204,  250. 
Doyle,  John  T.,  159-160. 
Drama,  Two  types  of,  11- 
12;  and  history,  S3,  184, 
255;  The  Classical,  180; 
The  Romantic,  97,  177. 
Dramatic  art,  Shakespeare's, 
12,  13,  14,  15,  27-8,  S6, 
175,  180,  184-5,  191,  199; 
in  Hamlet,  S3,  SQ,  39,  10- 
43,    96-7,    124;   in   Lear. 
247-249,  250-1,  277,  280, 
281,  283,  284,  285,  286; 
in    Merchant    of    Venice, 
30,    40,    136,    148-9;    in 
Othello,   184-5,  189,  191. 
202,    208,    222-3,    225-6J 
233,  237;  in  Romeo  and 
Juliet,  40,  153. 
Dramatic  situation,  in  Ham- 
let, 33-4,  36,  37,  40-3,  57, 
58;    in    Lear,    251-7;    in 


Merchant  of  Venice,  139- 
142,  143;  in  Othello,  179- 
181,  184,  185,  187,  188- 
192. 

Dryden,  John,  175. 

Duel,  The  (Hamlet  and 
Laertes),  112-3,  114-6, 
117. 

Duty,  Ham'et  and,  46,  54-6, 
73,  82,  53,  93,  103,  104, 
120.  Cf.  also  Hamlet, 
Task  of. 

Edgar,  265-6,  274,  284,  285. 
Edinburgh     Review,      The, 
174. 

Edmund,   265-6,    279,   280, 
284. 

Election   of   King  in   Den- 
mark, 36,  51,  72,  74,  119. 

Elizabethan,  age,  22,  135, 
250,  253;  drama,  16,  177, 
180,  254-5;  England,  29; 
mind,  130,  146,  198,  205, 
209,  250;  Shakespeare  an, 
11,  15,  16,  129,  255; 
stage,  198. 

Emilia,  194,  195,  211-2,  221, 
224,  235. 

England,  29,  90,  98,  103, 
106,  108,  110,  112,  123, 
131-2. 

English  history.  Plays  on, 
124,  125,  254. 

English  law,  159,  160,  l6l, 
162,  163.     Cf.  also  Law. 

Equity,  Mercy  as,  162,  163. 


r  -1!!f-»'^; 


Index 


307 


Cf.      also     Justice     and 

Mercy. 
Estajft  bjf  a  Society  of  Oen- 

tletnen    at    Exeter,    184. 

216. 
Ethics,  97,  146,   149,   158, 

166.    Cf.  also  Morality. 
Evil,  Effect  of,   50-4,  254, 

275,  277,  286. 
"External  RelaUons  of  the 

Persons,"  in  Hamlet,  87- 

40. 

Fate,  55,  58,  87,  115,  123, 
125,  141,  151,  180,  235; 
Moral  character  of,  125, 
141. 
Father,  Hamlet  and  his,  46, 
49,  58-4,  54-7,  58,  59,  6l, 
74,  75,  81,  105,  120;  Por- 
tia and  her,   142,   151-2, 
153.    Cf.    also    Cordelia 
and   Lear;   Polonius   and 
Laertes;      Polonius     and 
Ophelia. 
Father's  tragedy,  Lear  as  a, 

249,  266. 
Favoritism,    of    Lear,    251, 
252,  257-8,  261 ;  of  Othel- 
lo,   188,    190,    191,    193, 
198. 
Final    scenes.    Cf.    Closing 

scenes. 
First  scejss.    Cf.  Opening 

scenes. 
Folio    (First),    of   Hamlet, 
40;  of  Lear,  249. 


Fool,  in  Lear,  268,  270,  271. 
Fortinbras,  as  a  menace  to 
Denmark,  42,  46,  47,  54, 
57,  58,  62,  76,  77,  78,  79; 
as  next  king,  36,  38,  118- 
119,  120,  126;  as  a  temp- 
tation  to   Hamlet,   108-9, 
110,  120;  inspired  by  the 
weakness  of  Claudius,  47, 
48,    50,    57;    once    more, 
108-111;      Shakespeare's 
addition  to  the  story,  39, 
78;  The  ambitions  of,  33, 
42,  45,  48,  109,  119;  The 
part  of,  in  the  play,  87, 
38-9,  49,  50,   118-9,   120, 
126. 
France,  The  King  of,  264, 

275,  285. 
Frank,  Henry,  60. 
Fratricide     Punished.      Cf. 
German  play  of  Hamlet. 
Friends,      Antonio's,      147; 
Claudius's,  116;  Hamlet's, 
34-6,  41,  46,  118;  Othel- 
lo's 235;  Shylock's,   144, 
147. 
Fumess,  H.  H.,  134,  l6l. 

Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,  277. 
German    play    of    Hamlet, 

The,    30,    78,    102,    103, 

125. 
Gertrude.     Cf.  Queen. 
Gervinus,  G.  G.,  266. 
Ghost,  The,  Appears  first  to 

Hamlet's   friends,  33-35; 


308 


Index 


?:-:,5s-"-^ 


Hamlet  and,  SS-4,  S5,  43- 
4*,  34-7,  59,  67,  72,  73, 
83,96,99,  104;  In  armor, 
44-46;  invisible  to  the 
queen,  105;  The  dramatic 
function  of,  25,  40-1,  43, 
44-6,  51,  54-7,  59,  72,  73, 
77,  117. 

Gloucester.  Cf.  Underplot 
in  Lear. 

Goethe-Coleridge  theory  of 
Hamlet.  Cf.  Goethe,  and 
Coleridge. 

Goethe,  J.  W.,  23-5,  26,  37, 
38,80,  122,203. 

Goneril  and  Regan,  252, 
258,  259,  260,  261,  262, 
264,  265,  266,  267,  268, 
269,  270,  271,  279,  280. 

Gomago,  The  Murder  of, 
95,  99. 

Gosson,  Stephen,  137. 

Guildenstern.  Cf.  Kosen- 
crantz  and  Guildenstern. 

Hadow,  W.  H.,  213. 

Hamlet,  27,  60,  139,  187, 
225 ;  Interpretation  of, 
21-3;  Theories  of,  23-26; 
The  sources  and,  28-34, 
63. 

Hamlet,  Ability  of,  80,  83, 
108;  a  deliverer,  31,  32, 
77,  78,  ni;  and  his 
mother,  35,  56,  71,  103-7, 
295-8;  and  the  king,  25, 
26,  50,  51,  52,  53,  56,  58, 


59,  62-3,  64,  71-8,  75,  76, 
77,  80-4,  88,  98-9,  100-3, 
108,     115,     116-7;     and 
Ophelia,     87,     91-5;     an 
ideal  prince,  49,  57,  124- 
126;   Character  of,  21-2, 
31,  52,  73,  76,  77,  80,  97- 
99,  104,  114,  115,  121-4, 
208;  Impetuosity  of,  79, 
80,    98,    104,    114,    115; 
Melancholy  of,  35,  58,  71, 
72,  73-6,81,95;  Procras- 
tination of,  23,  24,  79,  80, 
108;  Purposes  of,  politi- 
cal, 26,  62,  82,  110,  111; 
Relation  to  the  play,  32- 
34,79,82,96,117-8,120; 
Religious   spirit  of,    102, 
103,  123;  Task  of,  25-6, 
27,  51,  56,  57-62,  72,  76, 
77,  78,  83,  117,  120,  123. 
Cf.   also    "Antic   disposi- 
tion";   Avenger;    Banish- 
ment ;  Death ;  Duel ;  Duty ; 
Father;    Fortinbras; 
Ghost;     Hero;     Humor; 
Idealist ;    Laertes ;    Mad- 
ness;   Morality;    Motive; 
Patriot;  Peace;  Polonius; 
Popularity;      Return; 
Schoolfellows;      Secrecy; 
Self-restraint;  Self-sacri- 
fice;  Silence;   "Transfor- 
mation." 
Hamlet,  The  Elder,  31,39, 40, 
42,  45,  46-9,  50,  54-7,  58, 
59,  72,  74,  76,  107,  120. 


.;,'^r>;«*^-.. 


Index 


809 


Henry  the   Fifth,  79,   184, 

125,  854. 
Heraud,  J.  A.,  219,  2S4. 

Herford,  C.  H.,  804,  807, 
883,  284,  881. 

Hero,  Elder  Hamlet  as  a, 
48-9;  Hamlet  as  a,  31,  49, 
76-8,  79,  110-11,  120-1, 
184,  185;  Passion  and 
deed  of,  the  mainspring 
of  dramatic  action,  33-4, 
53,  54-6,  58,  62,  139,  148, 
143,  179-181,  187-8,  193, 
840,  251-8. 

Hodell,  C.  W.,  33,  189. 

Holinshed,  877. 

Holmes,  Judge  Nathaniel, 
161-8,  166-7. 

Horatio,  and  the  ghost,  43- 
44;  as  friend  of  Hamlet, 
84,  35,  41,  58,  60,  6l,  63, 
67-8,  88,  84,  98,  99,  100, 

118,  113,  114,  116,  117- 
118-180;  Character  of, 
46,  118;  Knowledge  of 
Denmark,  36,  41,  48,  44, 
45,  48,  54,  109;  Relation 
to  the  play,  38,  60,  61,  63, 
98,  109,  118,116,  117-18, 

119,  180,893-5. 
Horn,   Franz,   258. 
Humor,  Hamlet's,  65-71. 
Hunter,  John,  185,  186. 

lago,  and  Cassio,  808,  814, 
818,  820,  824,  230,  831, 
239;  and  Boderigo,   188, 


194,  195,  196,  811,  817, 
818,  819,  886,  831;  and 
the  lieutenancy,  188,  881, 
830,  839;  Character  of, 
178,  187,  188-9,  198,811, 
813,815,  816-7,831,233, 
840;  Motives  of,  178,  194, 
81 1,216-7;  Plans  of,  191, 
194,  216,  217,  220,  224. 
Cf.  Desdemona  and  lago ; 
Othello  and  lago. 

Idealist,  Hamlet  an,  97,  123, 
124;  Shakespeare  an,  97. 

Idle  (foolish),  63,  267. 

Imogen,  201,  233. 

Insanity.    Cf.  Madness. 

Interest  on  money,  149,  150, 
164,  165. 

Interpretation,  of  Shake- 
speare, 11-17,  21-3,  28, 
29,  174-5,  184.  Cf.  also 
Criticism. 

Intrigue,    in    Othello,    178, 

181,221-2,223,239. 
Irving,  H.  B.,  87. 

Jamieson,  Mrs.,  268. 

Jessica,  140,  148,  153,  168, 
169,  201. 

Jews,  as  comic  characters, 
131,  132;  as  money-lend- 
ers, 132,  137,  138,  143, 
144,  149,  166;  Conflict  of, 
with  Christians,  130,  133, 
138,  140,  143-5,  147,  149, 
150,  153-8,  163-6;  in 
England,   131-2,   135;  in 


810 


Indett 


the  drama,  ISO,  isi,  138- 
iS*,  IS7:  Shakespeare 
and  the,  180,  138-8,  lS4-«, 
1S7,  138,  139,  147,  148, 
164;  The  people  and  the, 
ISO,  131,  132-3,  135,  147. 

Johnson,   Samuel,    14,    176, 
177,  248,  280. 

Johnson,  C.  F.,  178. 

Jonson,  Ben,  12,  175. 

Juliut  Cettar,  61,  254;  Ju- 
lius Caesar,  193,  227. 

Justice  and  Mercy,  149, 157, 
158,  161-3,  165. 

Kean,  Edmund,  184. 

Kent,  251,  268,  265,  367-8, 

270,  275,  276,  282. 
King,   Fortinbras   as    Next, 
118-119.      Cf.    Claudius, 
and  Lear. 

King  Lear,  27,  17S,  250, 
251,  254-5;  Christianity 
of,  285-7;  Criticism  of, 
248,  250,  252,  254,  256, 
261,282,  285-6,  287;  The 
old  play  of,  264;  The 
theme  of,  248-9,  251,  254, 
273.    Cf.  also  Lear. 

Klein-Werder      theory      of 
Hamlet.    Cf.  Werder. 

Kreyssig,  F.,  256. 

Kyd's  Hamlet,   24,   29,   30, 
89. 

Laertes,    and    Claudius,   77. 
84,  103,  111-2,  116,  117; 


and  Hamlet,  80,  87-8,  92, 
112-114,  114-16,  116-17; 
and  Ophelia,  91,  92,  112; 
and   Polonius,  85-6,   113; 
Character  of,  76,  85,  92, 
115,    116;    Rebellion    of, 
62,  110,  111,  lis,  120. 
Lamb,  Charles,  206. 
Lansdowne,  Viscount,  138. 
Latham,  R.  G.,  31. 
Law,  in  Merchant  of  Venice, 
154,  157,  158,  159,  160, 
161,  162,  163,  164,  166. 
Cf.  also  English  law. 
Lear,  and  attendants,  267-8 ; 
and  daughters,  248,  249, 
251,  252,  253,  256,  257, 
258,  259,  260,  261,   262, 
263,  264,  265,  266,  267, 
268,  269,  270,  271,  272, 
274,  275,  276,  277,  278, 
279,  280,  281,  282,  283, 
285,   287;   Character   of, 
178,  253,  257,  259,  265, 

269,270,276-7,278,279; 
Division  of  his  kingdom, 
251,  252-3,  257,  258,  271- 
272 ;  Egoism  of,  253,  254, 
256,  257,  259,  270,  278, 
278,  279;  Motive  of,  253, 
258,260,263,271-2;  Pride 
of,  270,  272,  276-7,  278; 
Vanitj-  of,  257,  260,  265, 
272,  27S,  284.  Cf.  also 
Cordelia  and  Lear;  King 
Lear;  Madness. 
Lennox,  Mrs.,  272. 


InSUm 


311 


Lewis,  C.  M.,  21,84. 

Lloyd,  W.  W.,  2S4-3,  262. 

Lope«,  Dr.,  ISfl. 

LorcnEo,  158,  igg,  169,201. 

Love,  as  equality,  198,  206, 
279;  Function  of,  tO,  138, 
142,  15S,  168,  169;  in 
Hamlet.  91-2,  94-5,  105; 
in  Merchant  of  Venice, 
40,  138,  141,  153,  167, 
168;  in  Othello,  208,  204, 
218-19;  Value  of,  142, 
156,   168,  202,  239,   279. 

Lunacy.     Cf.  Madness. 

Macaulay,  T.  B.,  213. 
Macbeth.     51,     254,     275; 

Macbeth,  43,  51,  213,  216, 

275. 

Machiavellian  villain,  lago 
a   }  215. 

Madness,  in  drama,  65;  of 
Hamlet  (feigned),  62-5, 
65-6,  70-1,  106,  107;  of 
Lear,  65,  27 1,272-3,  274; 
of  Ophelia,  112.  Cf.  also 
"Antic  disposition." 

Marcellus,  41-2,  43,  44,  45, 

46,  as. 

Marlowe,  12;  Doctor  Faus- 
iu».  102;  Jew  of  Malta 
(Barabas),  131,  133,  145, 
147,  205. 

Marriage,  of  Jessica  and 
Lorenzo,  153,  168,  169; 
of  Othello  and  Desdemo- 
na,  184,  198,  202,  205-6, 


208-9,210,211.222,228, 
284,  285,  242;  of  Queen 
and  Claudius,  .i5,  72,  74, 
lOK    Vf.  also  Racr. 
.Mauritania,  as  Othello's  na- 
tive country,    185-6,   229, 
242. 
Medieval,    Christian,    Anto- 
nio as,  145;  Jew,  Sliylock 
as,  145,  148. 
Merchant    of    Venice,     40, 
187,    139,  217,  225;  and 
the    sources,    30,    136-8; 
Shakespeare's  art  in,  40, 
132,    134,    136,    137,   138, 
139,  141,  225;  The  Moor 
in,   152,  205;  Theme  of, 
187,  142,  143,  144,  167- 
Mercy  and  Justice.  Cf,  jus- 
tice    and      Mercy;     and 
Equity. 
Miracle  plays,  1 1 . 
Mirror      for      Magislratet, 

The.   277. 
Modern,      Making      Shake- 
spcorc,    13,    15,    129-1  SO, 
134,  135,  187. 
Moor,  Othello  as  a,   185-6, 
199,  207,  229,  240,  241, 
242;  The,  in  Merchant  of 
Venice,  152,  205;  The,  in 
Titua  Andronicus.  205. 
Moral  code,  of  Antonio,  145, 
16^  l67;of  Shylock,  148, 
15..  158,  166. 
Morality,   in    the   plays:    in 
Hamlet.   32,   40,   56,   57, 


w^w^^^mrTW^^ 


*^:"lJ>i-^: 


312 


Index 


60,  61,  74,  75,  76,  82,  97, 
116-7,  120,  125;  in  Lear, 
254,  256,  257,  268,  272-3, 
274,  275,  276,  277,  279, 
280,   288,  284,  285,  286, 
287;  in  Merchant  of  Ven- 
ice,   149,    155,    157,    158, 
166;    in    Othello,    174-5, 
176,   177,  180,  181,  183, 
207,  222,  230,  240-1,  243. 
Cf.  also  Ethics. 
Morality,   of  Shakespeare's 
herors:  Hamkt,  31,32,52, 
53,  6:),  57,  61,  62,  74,  75, 
76,  77,  82,  97,  101,  103, 
106,   115,  118,   lais,   123, 
124,   125. 

;  Lack  of,  in  Antonio, 

145,  157;  in  Lear,  249, 
254,  268,  269,  273,  275; 
in  Othello,  207,  208,  240, 
241,  243;  in  Shy  lock,  145, 
146,147,157,158-9. 
Morality  plays,  11. 
Moral   principles,   in    Trial 

Scene,  155,  157. 
Moral  redemption,  in  Lear, 

65,  276,  278,  279. 
Morocco,    The    Prince    of, 

152,  205. 
Motive  of,  Hamlet,  34,  S6, 
39,  40,  58;  lago,  178,  194, 
211,  216-17;  Lear,  253, 
258,  260,  263,  271-2; 
Othello,  178,  243;  Shy- 
lock,  156. 
Moulton,  R.  G.,  149,  l6l. 


Mouse-trap,  The.  67,  93,  98- 

99,  100. 
Murder   of   Gonzago,    The, 

95,  99. 
Murray,  J.  Clark,  146. 
Mystery   of   Life,   The,   in 

Hamlet,  26-28. 

Naming  of   the   plays.    Cf. 

Titles. 
Narrative,  in  Morality 
plays,  11;  in  Marlowe, 
12;  in  Shakespeare,  13- 
14,  15,  16,  36,  213,  238-9, 
247,  285.  Cf.  also  Plots, 
and  Story. 

National  hero.  Elder  Ham- 
let as  a,  48 ;  Hamlet  as  a, 
30-2,60,76-8,118-19,124. 

Nationalism,  The  new,  79, 
110;  The  old,  79. 

Nature  and  man,  42,  271, 
274. 

Negro,   Othello   a,   209. 

Nemesis.  Cf.    Retribution. 

Nerissa,  139,  142,  151,  152. 

Norway.  Cf.  Denmark  and 
Norway. 

Oechelhauser,   Wilhelm,  24. 

Opening  scenes.  Importance 
of,  33,  139,  189,  191; 
Hamlet,  32-4,  36,  37-9, 
40-3,  291-3;  Lear,  251- 
253;  Merchant  of  Venice, 
138-9,  139-148;  Othello, 
187-194. 


Index 


818 


Ophelia,  64,  68,  72-3,  85,  86, 

87,91-5,98,99,  112,113, 
114. 

Opportunity  of  the  Players, 
The,  95-6. 

Othello.  173,  174,  175,  178, 
182,  185,  188,  189,  193, 
215,  ^27,  237-9;  Theme 
of,  185,  186,  187,  193, 
242. 

Othello  and  Brabantio,  195, 
197,  198,  200,  203,  235-6, 
238 ;  and  Emilia,  211;  and 
lago,  178-9,  180-1,  186- 
196,  208,  212,  213,  214, 
215,  216,  224,  225,  226, 

227,  228,  229,   235,  236, 

239,  240;  Barbarism  of, 
194,  196,  199,  207,  208, 
209,  212,  217,  226,  227, 

228,  231,  232,  238,  240, 
241,  242,  243;  Character 
of,  173,  190,  196,  197, 
199,  207,  208,  209,  225, 
226,   227,  228,  235,  236, 

240,  241,  243;  Jealousy 
of,  219,  229;  Pride  of, 
219,  229,230,  241;  Rela- 
tion of,  to  the  tragedy, 
184,  187,  189,  193,  198, 
199,  229,  230,  232,  236-7, 
243.  Cf.  also  Color 
(Othello's);  and  Desde- 
mona  and  Othello. 

,  compared  to,  Antony, 

236;  Hamlet,  208;  Julius 
Caesar,  227;  Lcontes,  229. 


Passion,  in  tragedy,  40,  97, 
180,  215,  222,   228,  236, 
243,  24  7^  264,  274-5. 
Patri'      Eltier  Hsmlet  as  a, 
40,  46    47;  Hath.et  as  a, 
60,  6.,  62,  77    79,   118, 
12  ,  l.?5. 
Peace,   Elder   Hamlet   and, 
42,     48;      Hamlet     and, 
78-80,  no,  111,119,  120, 
125-6.      Cf.   also   Shake- 
speare. 
Play,  The,  and  the  Sources, 
(Hamlet),  28-32;  and  the 
Prince,  32-4. 
Players,  The,  in  Hamlet,  80, 
83;  The  Opportunity  of, 
95-6;  Hamlet's  Advice  to, 
96-7. 
Plots,  Shakespeare's,  12,  13, 
14,  46-7,  139-140,  178-9, 
185,   187,  247,  248,  249, 
251-3.  C/".  also  Narrative, 
and  Story. 
Poel,  William,  130,  145. 
"Poetic  Justice"  in   Shake- 
spfeare,  14,  176,  177,  259, 

280,281-2,285,287.  Cf. 
also  Morality. 
Polonius,  and  Hamlet,  64, 
68,  69,  70,  84-5,  87,  88-9, 
90,92,103,104,107,114; 
and  Laertes,  85-6,  113; 
and  Ophelia,  86,  87,  92, 
94;  and  the  play,  64,  84, 
96;  Character  of,  84-5, 
86,  87,  89,  90,  94,  122; 


^^■^M^ 


314 


Index 


Family,    The,    84-6.    Cf. 
also    Claudius    and    Polo- 
nius. 
Popularity   of   Hamlet,   22, 
62,  71,  74,  77,  90,  107-8, 
110,  113. 
Portia,   138,   139,   140,   141, 
142,   143,   149,    151,   152, 
153,   15(0,   157,    158,   160, 
161,  163,  167,  168,  169, 
205,  217. 
Pound  of  Flesh  Story,  The, 

137,  140,   143,  154. 
Prayer,  The  Christian,  156; 

The  King  at,  100-3. 
Pride,  Cordelia's  260,  261, 
262,  275,  276-7,  2i78; 
Lear's  270,  272,  276-7; 
278;  Othello's,  219,  229, 
230,  241. 
Prince,    The    Play    and  the 

(Hamlet),  32-4. 
Providence    (God),   46,   73, 

121,123,  124,284,286. 
Purgatory,  102,  103. 

Quarto,  of  Hamlet.  40. 
Queen,  The  (Gertrude),  35, 

56,  58,  59,  91,  95,  98,  103- 

107,  117,  295-8. 
Quinlan,  M.  A.,  176. 

Race,  Conflicts  of,  143,  200, 
206,  210,  225,  226,  242. 
Cf.  also  Marriage. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  169, 
181,221,  222,  233,  281-2. 


Rapp,  Moriz,  121. 
Ray,  I.,  272. 

Rebellion,  of  Fortinbras,  41, 
42,  48,  50,  54,  57,  76,  77, 
78;  of  Laertes,  77,  110, 
111,  120. 
Reconciliation,  Shy  lock's 
pretence  of,  153,  158,  l64, 
166;  of  Lear  and  Corde- 
lia, 275-9. 
Redemption,  in  Lear,  274-5, 

278,  279,  284,  286,  287. 
Religion,    in    Hamlet,    102, 
103,    123,    124;    in   Lear, 
286-8;    in    Merchant    of 
Venice.     144,     146,     148, 
149,  154-5,  166. 
Remorse,  of  Claudius,  100; 
of   Lear,   276-7,  278;   of 
Othello,  236,  238. 
Retribution,  in  Hamlet,  87- 
88,90-1,104,115  16,117; 
in   Lear,    274,    280,    283, 
285 ;  in  Merchant  of  Ven- 
ice, 166;  in  Othello,  178, 
182,   184,  232,   236,  238, 
239. 
Return,       Hamlet's,       112, 

118-14. 
Revenge,  in  Hamlet,  25,  29, 
30,  31,  34,  46,  55,  57-62, 
72,  76,  78,  79;  in  Mer- 
chant of  Venice,  144,  151, 
156;  in  Othello,  191,  194, 
215,  216-18,  232.  Cf. 
also  Avenger. 
Reynaldo,  85,  86. 


Index 


315 


Richardson,  William,  101. 
Richard  the  Third,  125. 
Roderigo,     188,    194,     195, 
196,  211,  217,  218,  219, 
220,  226,  231. 
Romeo   and  Juliet,   40,   63, 
142,  153,225;  Romeo  and 
Juliet,    142,    183-4.    201, 
202,  204,  239. 
Rose,  Edward,  233. 
Rosecrantz     and     Guilden- 
stern,  53,  63,  69,  81,  88- 
91,  106-7,  108,  112. 
Rymer,  Thomas,  176,  177. 

Sanctuary,    The     right    of, 

102. 
Sanity,  of  Hamlet,  63,  64, 
65,  66,  70;  of  Lear,  re- 
stored, 276. 
Saxo   Grammaticus    (Histo- 
ria  Danica),   SO,   31,  49, 
120,  125. 
Schlegel,  A.  W.,  187,  207-8, 

249-250,  271. 
Schmidt,  Alexander,  63. 
School-fellows,        Hamlet's, 

88-91. 
Secrecy,  Hamlet's,  34-6,  6I. 
Self-restraint,  Hamlet's,  24, 
31-2,  49,  56,  57,  77,  79, 
80,  9S,  102,  105-6,  125. 
Self-sacrifice,     H  a  m  1  e  t's, 
118-19,  120,  124;  Lear's 
pretence  of,  256. 
Shakespeare,     a     dramatist 
not  an  historian,  255;  an 


Elizabethan,    11,    15,    16, 
129,  255;  and  Christian- 
it.v,  149,  157-8,  164,  285- 
87;  and  his  age,  129,  132, 
135,   136,   147,  250,  255; 
and  Homer,  288;  and  re- 
ligion, 126,  147,  287;  Ar- 
tistic    ideals     of,     96-7; 
Character  and  destiny  in, 
14,    233,   283;   Character 
in  drama  of ,  1 2 ;  Character 
studies,    13;   Children  in, 
260,    262;    Comedy    and 
tragedy  in,  97;  Comments 
on     plays,      194-5;     con- 
scious,      187;      Criticism 
gaining      confidence      in, 
288 ;  Dramatic  method  of, 
137,  184-5,  225;  Dramatic 
purpose,   175;   Ethics  of, 
149,   158;  Ghosts  in,  43; 
Historical  plays  of,  124, 
125;   Humanity  of,    147; 
Ideal  king,  49,  79,  254; 
Ideal   prince,   57,    124-6; 
Idealism  of,  97;   Insight 
of,  155,  281;  Interpreta- 
tion   of,    11-17,    28,    29; 
Judgment   of,    248,    281, 
289;    Life,    not    a    mere 
portrayer    of,     65,     250; 
Mind  of,  136,  255;  Moral 
dramatist,   40,    182,    183, 
253,     272-3,     281,     283, 
284;      Moral      faith     of, 
284;      Passion,      Experi- 
ments   with,    222-3,    254; 


E^tW^ 


M-!; 


,,«i=»a  - 


816 


Index 


Patriotism  of,  278 ;  Philo- 
sophical thinker,  282; 
Supremacy    of,    29,    77, 

180,  206,  281,  283,  285; 
Teacher,  288;  Tolerance, 

181,  132,  183,  135,  136'. 
Shakespeare's  opinions;  Im- 
portance of,  179;  Absolu- 
tism, 258-6,  257,  268, 
278;  Acting,  96-7;  Civili- 
zation, 240,  241,  242; 
Drama,  96-7;  Favoritism, 
190,  191,  193,  198,  252; 
Hero,  48-9,  76-8,  79; 
Husband,  Choice  of,  201- 
202;  Judaism,  13*^,  133, 
157;  Kings  253-4;  life, 
14,  28,  65,  ^50,  287,  288; 
Love,  40,  i68,  169,  279; 
Man  and  the  world,  180; 
Peace  and  war,  41-2,  62, 
78,  110,  120,  125,  193; 
Warriors,  119,  193,  199, 
207. 

Shylock,  and  Antonio;  Cf. 
Antonio  and  Shylock; 
and  Jessica,  140,  148; 
and      the      Bond,      140, 

148,  150-1,  154,  156, 
160,  161;  and  the  play, 
180,  134,  137,  138,  139, 
144;  as  a  comic  person- 
age, 181,  132;  as  a  Jew, 
180,   182,  133,   146,   148, 

149,  164;  The  attitude  of, 
towards  Christians,  140, 
144,  149,  150,  158,  154; 


The  attitude  of  others  to- 
wards 131,  132,  133,  134, 
135,  136,  137,  138,  147, 
164-5;  The  Character  of, 
132,  133,  144,  146,  147, 
148,  156;  The  Motive  of, 
144,  151,  154,  155,  156, 
165;  The  tragedy  of,  131. 
Silence,  Hamlet's,  34-6,  61. 
Snider,  D.  J.,  204,  234,  251, 

254,  256,  261. 
Social  forces,  179-180,  183- 

184. 
Sources,    Shakespeare's    use 
of,    16,    29-30;    Hamlet, 
26;  28-32,  39;  Lear,  248- 
9,  277;  Merchant  of  Ven- 
ice,   136-8;   Othello,   194, 
195,     206,     225,     237-9, 
242. 
Spenser,  Edmund,  277. 
Stage    directions,    87,    102, 

205. 
Staging  of  First   Scene  of 

Hamlet,  291 -S. 
Stedefeld,  G.  F.,  121,  122. 
Stoll,  E.  E.,  132,  146,  180, 

181-2,  188,  215. 
Story,  in  Shakespeare,  12, 
13,  29-30,  39,  60,  130, 
137,  169,  247,  255,  281, 
282.  Cf.  Narrative,  and 
Plot. 
Swinburne,  A.  C,  287. 

Tate,  Nahum,  284-5. 
Taylor,  A.  E.,  286. 


Index 


817 


Ten  Brink,  B.,  164. 
Tennyson,  Lord,  207,  219. 
Text,    of    Shakespeare,    15, 

16,  28-9. 
Theories  of  Hamlet,  23-6. 
Thorndike,  A.  H.,  60. 
Title,  and  theme,  of  Lear, 
248-9,  251;  Merchant  of 
Venice.    137-8,    139,    141, 
142;    Othello,    185,    186, 
187,    193,   236,   242. 
Titu*      Andronicut,      The 

Moor  in  (Aaron),  205. 
Tragedy,  in  Shakespeare, 
60,  66,  67,  70,  97,  122, 
141,  206,  209,  222,  223, 
236-7,  240,  241,  264,  272- 
273,  281,  284. 
Traitors,     in     Shakespeare, 

88,90,91,93,94,  115. 
"Transformation,  Ham- 

let's," 71-3,  74,  99. 
Tree,  Sir  Herbert,  66,  67, 

70. 
Trench,  W.  F.,  99, 
Trial  Scene^  in  Merchant  of 


Venice,   138,   140,   154-9, 

160,  167. 

Ulrici,   Hermann,   24,    121, 

221-2,  258. 
Unmasking    of    the    King, 

116-17. 
Underplot,    in    Lear,    247, 

249-50,   251,   265-6,   268, 

284,  285 
Usury.  Cf.  Interest. 

Vengeance.  Cf.  Revenge. 
Venice,  143,  154,  158,  159, 

161,  166,  185,   186,  193, 
194-5. 

Villain.  Cf.  Claudius,  lago, 
etc. 

Walters,  J.  Cuming,  135. 
Ward,  A.  W.,  135. 
Werder,    Karl,   on   Hamlet, 

25-6,  49,  57,  61,  79,  82, 

100. 
Wilson,  John,  206. 
Winter's    Tale,    The,    229, 

281. 
Wittenberg,  S8,  52,  81,  122. 


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